'Stop Cop City' Activist Shot 50+ Times: DeKalb Autopsy Report

DECATUR, GA — An autopsy report released Wednesday by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office stated "Stop Cop City" activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, was shot at least 57 times before dying.

A copy of the report dated March 14 was sent to Patch Wednesday night by the Decatur-based law firm Spears and Filipovits, which is representing Teran's family attorney. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was homicide, according to the report.

Teran, who used they/their pronouns and was known as Tortuguita, was identified at the time as the person who shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper during a Jan. 18 joint task force clearing operation at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as "Cop City," according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the investigating agency.

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The training center will benefit the Atlanta police and fire departments.

A medical investigator report sent with the autopsy report stated Teran was accused of firing a black 9-millimeter Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun at officers, shooting the trooper. The officers returned fire, and the gun was later found near Teran's tent, according to the investigator report.

According to the autopsy report, "soot, stippling, searing and gunpowder residue" were not found on Teran's clothing or around any of the gunshot wounds.

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According to the report, Teran was shot in several places on their body including their head, right eye, chest and abdomen, hands, the right foot, the left pelvis and the right thigh/hip.

"Collectively, the gunshots resulted in his death, and therefore the cause of death is designated as multiple gunshot wounds," the report read, noting the gunshot wound in the head would have solely been fatal.

According to the report, the gunshot wound to the head was likely not the first shot to Teran's body.

"None of the other gunshots would have caused him to become immediately unconscious or incapacitated," the report read.

Intact projectiles and fragments were recovered from 14 of the wound tracks and Teran's clothing, according to the report. They were sent to the Georgia State Crime Laboratory for analysis.

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"We are devastated to learn that our child, our sweet Manny, was mercilessly gunned down by police and suffered 57 bullet wounds all over their body," Teran's mother, Belkis Teran, said in a news release sent from the family attorney.

Teran's family announced its intent to sue the City of Atlanta in mid-March, seeking records related to their death. A private autopsy report was released by the family showing Teran's hands were raised when he was shot.

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Joel Paez, Teran's father, said authorities are refusing to meet with the family to detail the events on Jan. 18.

Teran was born April 23, 1996, in Venezuela. They graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with bachelor's of science in psychology and an associate's in sociology, their mother previously said. Belkis Teran said they would suffer anytime it seemed harm was being done to the environment.

Patch reached out to the GBI for comment and was told the investigation had been completed. The case file was turned over to the Mountain Circuit District Attorney’s Office.