ATLANTA — Atlanta officials on Wednesday condemned a bond ruling that had been issued this week for an alleged gang member who is charged with shooting an Atlanta Police officer six times.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis explained that the accused shooter, Christian Eppinger, will not be getting out of jail, but said she was "disgusted" by the bond ruling.
Court records show Eppinger was granted $65,000 bond on Monday and ordered to wear an ankle monitor, if he’s released.
But Eppinger will remain in jail because he faces two separate cases — he originally went to jail after a 2016 armed robbery and served four years in custody as a juvenile, and was released on probation last year.
RELATED: Warrants: Man accused of shooting Atlanta officer is an aspiring rapper, member of violent gang
After his release, Willis said, he rejoined the Young Slime Life gang and committed several violent crimes, leading to the arrest attempt in February in which he allegedly shot Atlanta Officer David Rogers six times. Rogers survived the attack.
Willis explained that he will be sentenced next week for violating his parole in the 2016 armed robbery — which she said carries a maximum of 60 years, and that her expectation is he will receive 50-60 years in prison.
In the meantime, a judge granted bond for the second case — the alleged crimes that led up to the shooting and the shooting of Officer Rodgers — because, Willis believes, his case was running close to a 90-day indictment deadline. The DA said his case was at 71 days, and under Georgia law any case that isn't indicted within 90 days is automatically granted bond.
Willis nonetheless disagreed with the apparent reasoning, saying she was on track to submit the indictment within 90 days and that the judge should instead have re-scheduled the case for 19 days later if there was concern about an indictment being returned before the deadline.
"I think that this is just a problem with our process," Willis said.
Willis shared a screenshot of a post on Eppinger’s Instagram account stating he’d be home soon.
The DA further explained that she was granted an emergency hearing by Fulton County Superior Court for Thursday April 21 at 5 p.m. to reconsider the bond ruling.
"We want to make sure this gentleman does not get out of jail, we want to make sure that in my life he never sees society again," Willis said of Eppinger. "He has chosen to do this with his life and now is the time for him to be held responsible."
The DA also shared surveillance video from the shooting of the officer in February.
You can view it below. Note that while the video is not necessarily graphic, the shooting of the officer is starkly visible and may be upsetting.
According to arrest warrants, in addition to being a member of the especially violent Young Slime Life gang, Eppinger is an aspiring rapper under the performing name "Big Bhris." They pointed to a "Big Bhris" YouTube account that has three music videos posted, with titles such as "Homicide" and "Murder on My Mind."
According to the warrants, following the shooting of the officer, Young Slime Life members were "observed on social media bragging about a police officer being shot on 'Bleveland Avenue' and giving recognition and gratitude to Mr. Eppinger for his actions."
The gang is said to operate out of strongholds along Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta.
Officer Rodgers, APD Chief Rodney Bryant said at Wednesday's press conference, is "doing quite well" though he "suffers from some level of pain that he continues to manage."
"He stays very positive in every communication that I have with him," Bryant said.
Additionally, DA Willis said she was concerned that the bond ruling had been made by a Magistrate Court judge designated to hear the matter in Superior Court, a practice that has been ongoing with the county trying to clear case backlogs.
She said she wants only the elected Superior Court judges to hear gang cases and other violent cases — it is already the case that only Superior Court judges hear rape and murder cases, for example.
She said she wants to "make sure we get this order amended where only judges elected by people hear cases as serious as this."
The bond ruling raises the issue Atlanta Police have highlighted recently with repeat offenders. At a press conference last month, the department said 1,000 people are responsible for 40% of all crimes committed in Atlanta. In that press conference, APD announced a new Repeat Offender Tracking Unit to tackle the problem.
With the Eppinger case, Willis highlighted the gaps in probation oversight.
"While he was on probation it is clear he was not monitored, he did not report," she said. And, despite this, the probation was not revoked until the violent outburst in February.
That, she said, is "why we are so offended that this could go on."