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 Anthony Hill's relatives announced the investigation while
visiting the suburban Atlanta apartment complex where the war
veteran, aspiring musician and devout Christian who suffered from
bipolar disorder was killed on March 9.
His death is among a spate of killings in the United States of
unarmed black men by white police officers.
"I want to find the truth," said Hill's mother, Carolyn
Baylor-Giummo, of Moncks Corner, South Carolina. "I don't want this
swept under the rug."
Hill, 27, was unclothed and acting strangely when police said he ran
at an officer, disobeying orders to stop. Some witnesses said his
hands were raised before he was shot twice in the chest.
Relatives do not want him remembered as he was last seen, running
naked, knocking on apartment doors and crawling on all fours.
 A U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan, read the Bible
and had "Be Sensible" tattooed on his chest, Hill apparently
experienced a mental break, his family said, adding they had never
seen him behave that way before.
His grandmother, Theola Baylor, recalled a man who broke up fights,
taught himself the saxophone and keyboard, wrote songs and was
getting some gigs.
Relatives said Hill may have stopped using some of the seven
medications he was taking for his condition after his medical
discharge from the military in 2013.
Their visit came the day after another black man was shot dead by
law enforcement in the Atlanta area. The family of Nicholas Thomas,
25, who was attempting to flee police in a Maserati when an officer
shot him dead, has also questioned whether excessive force was used.
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In that case, police said Thomas was driving toward officers,
putting them at grave risk, when he was shot.
Hill's death is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation. Neither that agency nor local law enforcement in
DeKalb County immediately returned calls for comment.
At Hill's apartment complex, his mother and grandmother sought
answers.
"If he didn't have that badge, what would happen to the person who
killed my son?" Baylor-Giummo said. "A lot of black men are being
shot by Caucasian officers. It's a deep problem."
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Letitia Stein, Eric Beech,
Jonathan Kaminsky and Lisa Shumaker)
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