Parents of slain Georgia Tech student want to know: was lethal force necessary?

The parents of a Georgia Institute of Technology student who was fatally shot by campus police want to know why their child was killed.

Scout Schultz was barefooted near some dorms, wielding a multi-use utility tool that did not have the knife blade extended, when police confronted them, according to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Someone had called 911 shortly after 11 p.m. to report a person with a weapon.

The 21-year-old from Lilburn was “barefooted and ‘disoriented’ in the middle of a ‘mental breakdown’” attorney L. Chris Stewart, who is representing Schultz’s family, said to media outlets at a news conference Monday.

A video of the incident, near a parking deck on Eighth Street, shows officers yelled at Schultz to put the knife down.

“Come on man, let’s drop the knife,” an officer said to Schultz with his gun drawn. “Nobody wants to hurt you.”

The officers asked what Schultz’s name was, but his response was inaudible.

“It does matter,” an officer said.

Schultz kept walking toward an officer, and the officer shot Schultz in the heart.

Campus police officers do not carry stun guns, but they do carry pepper spray, the AJC reported.

Schultz, a computer engineering major, died at an Atlanta hospital a half hour later, CNN reported.

Schultz is non-binary, meaning they don’t ascribe to the male/female paradigm. “They” is among accepted pronouns for non-binary people.

Schultz also was president of Pride Alliance, the school’s LGBTQ club.

Stewart, who has represented families of other people who were shot and killed by police, such as Alton Sterling and Walter Scott, contended at the news conference that police “overreacted” by shooting Schultz.

He also alleged the school was forcing a narrative that Schultz was a “knife-wielding threat,” CNN reported.

"Why did you have to shoot? That's the question. That's the only question that matters now," Schultz's father, Bill Schultz, said at Monday’s news conference. "Whatever happened shouldn't have ended in a death."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.

The Pride Alliance organized a vigil for Schultz which is set for 8 p.m. Monday at the Georgia Tech Campanile.

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 4:01 PM.