Bluffton man suspected of stealing from Rose Hill woman killed by police in Savannah
A man police suspected of taking a woman’s car and credit cards from her home in Bluffton’s Rose Hill last week was shot and killed Tuesday night after a confrontation with police in Savannah, authorities said.
Shawn Martin, 45, of Bluffton, was shot and killed by two Savannah police officers Tuesday night. They said he was hiding in a closet and popped out “swinging a knife,” according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. A press release said Martin ignored “verbal commands to drop the knife” from officers before they shot him.
Bianca Johnson, spokesperson for the Savannah Police Department, said they were unable to comment on any details on the shooting because GBI has taken over the investigation.
The bureau investigates police officer shootings in the state.
While the bureau investigates, the two officers who shot Martin are on administrative paid leave, as is standard, Johnson said.
The shooting happened at a home on the 1900 block of Vassar Street in Savannah.
The GBI did not respond to phone messages but answered questions over email. GBI is in the early stages of its investigation, according to Special Agent in Charge Chris DeMarco.
The Savannah officers fired one shot each in the shooting, he wrote. They were wearing active body cameras at the time.
The GBI is investigating only the use-of-force aspect of the case, DeMarco said, while the Savannah Police Department will assist the Sheriff’s Office on the fraud and theft allegations.
“We’re fact finders, once the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to local DA’s office for their review,” DeMarco wrote.
Reporters left a message for the Chatham County Coroner’s Office.
Why were police looking for him?
Martin was suspected of taking a Rose Hill Plantation woman’s credit cards and car last week, police said.
On Dec. 17, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies first responded to the woman’s home on Morning Mist Place after a friend called for a health and welfare check. No one had heard from her since two days before, according to a report obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The deputy who made the check spoke with Rose Hill security and saw EMS speaking with the woman from afar and wrote in the report there was “no cause for alarm.”
The deputy returned the following day after the friend asked for another check, because the Rose Hill woman had “complained that her head hurt, her car was missing ... and several credit cards were gone.”
When he arrived and spoke to the woman, the deputy noticed dried blood on her ear and a wound to the back of her head. He wrote that he was not close enough to see it the day before.
The deputy found dried blood splattered on the bed, the floor and the wall, according to the report.
Deputies found more blood across the home. In the kitchen, they found her purse on the counter with its contents strewn next to a hammer, the report said.
The rest of the report is redacted. Maj. Bob Bromage with the Sheriff’s Office said the woman remains hospitalized at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah with serious injuries.
Night of the shooting
After speaking with the woman Saturday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office listed her BMW on a national index as stolen and monitored her credit card activity, a news release said.
Multiple fraudulent purchases were discovered, including several in Savannah.
The Sheriff’s Office alerted Savannah Police about her car, as well as the purchases.
Sheriff’s Office investigators obtained two warrants Tuesday afternoon, accusing Martin of theft and fraud.
Around 8:30 p.m., Savannah officers stopped a man driving the BMW listed as stolen, the GBI said.
The driver told police where Martin was — at the driver’s mother’s home on Vassar Street.
Police went there and were permitted to search the home, the release said. They opened a closet and discovered Martin hiding inside. He then came out swinging a knife, according to the GBI. Two officers shot him, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital in Savannah, the press release said.
The GBI is investigating the officer shooting. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said the Rose Hill woman’s injuries are still under investigation.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 2:40 PM.
