Oscar Bernard Cain Jr., a 32-year-old Black man known as a community activist, was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in the early morning hours of March 31, 2019. The incident began when an officer, later identified as Marquee Kelley, was flagged down by a citizen who reported seeing a man with a gun near a highway ramp on Metropolitan Parkway.
According to the police account, when Officer Kelley attempted to stop and arrest Cain, he fled into a wooded area.
The officer pursued him, and during the chase, Kelley claimed that Cain brandished a firearm and did not comply with verbal commands, which led the officer to discharge his weapon, fatally wounding Cain. A firearm was reportedly recovered at the scene.
The death of Oscar Cain immediately drew scrutiny and sparked outrage from his family and the community, particularly because Officer Kelley had not activated his body-worn camera. This lack of video evidence led to significant questions about the officer's account of the events and fueled demands for transparency and accountability from the Atlanta Police Department. Cain had been a vocal advocate for the use of police body cameras to ensure accountability. His family, who learned of his death through a Facebook message, publicly called for Officer Kelley to be fired.
Following the shooting, Officer Kelley was placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting, the findings of which were to be turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office for review. Despite the ongoing investigation and the public outcry, there have been no public reports of Officer Kelley being arrested or charged in connection with the death of Oscar Bernard Cain Jr. Information regarding the final outcome of the GBI investigation and any subsequent decisions by the district attorney have not been made widely available. Similarly, Officer Kelley's long-term employment status with the Atlanta Police Department following the incident remains unclear from available online sources.
