Authorities investigate new video showing Ahmaud Arbery just prior to shooting
Authorities have confirmed they are looking into a new video related to the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Georgia man who was allegedly shot by a father and son in February.
The video, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shows someone who appears to be Arbery on a home surveillance camera down the block from a construction site just minutes before the 25-year-old was shot on the afternoon of Feb. 23. The man enters the home under construction through the garage, walks around the back of the home and then leaves and runs down the street.
A neighbor can be seen across the street from the construction site, possibly the person who was heard on previously released 911 audio saying, "He's running right now. There he goes right now." Two police cars can be seen in the video minutes later traveling down the street in the direction Arbery ran and was later shot.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed it was looking at the video in a statement Saturday afternoon.
"There are reports circulating of additional video footage being reviewed by the GBI as a part of the Ahmaud Arbery murder investigation," GBI said. "We are indeed reviewing additional video footage and photographs as part of the active case. It is important to note that this footage was reviewed at the beginning of the GBI investigation and before the arrests of Gregory and Travis McMichael."
Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis, 34, were arrested on Thursday night after video of the shooting emerged this week, quickly went viral and caused outrage nationwide. The video that went viral earlier this week showed the two men wrestling with Arbery, who they say they believed to be responsible for several break-ins in the neighborhood, before he was shot three times.
According to police reports obtained by ABC News, Travis called police on Feb. 11 -- 12 days before the shooting -- to report a black man in a house nearby under construction. The unknown man ran and Travis waited out front until police arrived.
The lawyers representing the Arbery family -- Lee Merritt, Ben Crump and Chris Stewart -- released a statement saying the new video does not change the version of events outlined by the family leading up to Arbery's shooting.
"Our office has reviewed the surveillance video which appears to show a person, believed to be Ahmaud Arbery, entering a property under construction. The individual remains on the property for under 3 minutes before continuing to jog down the road," the lawyers said in a joint statement Saturday. "This video is consistent with the evidence already known to us. Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog. He stopped by a property under construction where he engaged in no illegal activity and remained for only a brief period. Ahmaud did not take anything from the construction site. He did not cause any damage to the property. He remained for a brief period of time and was not instructed by anyone to leave but rather left on his own accord to continue his jog."
"Ahmaud’s actions at this empty home under construction were in no way a felony under Georgia law," the statement continued. "This video confirms that Mr. Arbery’s murder was not justified and the actions of the men who pursued him and ambushed him were unjustified. We reiterate, Ahmaud Arbery did not take part in ANY felony, had no illegal substances in his system, was not armed yet was shot three times with a shotgun at close range."
Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., spoke to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB at a rally on Saturday after seeing the newly released video.
"If he committed a crime, why don’t you call the authorities?" Marcus Arbery said. "But you came at him like you were hunting an animal."
His mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones told ABC News on Thursday, prior to the men's arrests, "I don't think I'll ever be in a mental state where I can actually watch the video. I had others that watched it that shared what they saw and that just was enough."
Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr will also be looking into the shooting, he said Saturday.
"I will be looking into how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset," Carr said. "The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers. We need to know exactly what happened, and we will be working to find those answers."
The McMichaels remain in jail after being denied bond in an initial court appearance conducted over video on Friday.
Arbery's 26th birthday would have been the same day.
ABC News' Jenn Metz, Christina Carrega, Josh Hoyos, Sabina Ghebremedhin, Morgan Winsor and Brandon Baur contributed to this report.
