An Atlanta police officer asked 'Is this target practice?' as he heard cops opening fire and killing an activist at 'Cop City' site

• Atlanta police released bodycam footage showing the moments before and after cops killed a 'Cop City' protestor.
• "Oh shit, is this target practice?" one officer says as he hears repeated shots ring out.

The Atlanta Police Department released bodycam footage showing the moments before cops shot an environmental activist to death — and in the footage, one officer can be heard saying "oh shit, is this target practice?" as gunfire rang out.

The demonstrator who was killed — 26-year-old Manuel "Tortuguita" Esteban Páez Terán — was part of an encampment group protesting the construction of a $90 million police training facility dubbed "Cop City" in a forest on the outskirts of Atlanta, according to CBS News.

Police said that when they raided the encampment on January 18, Terán shot and wounded an officer before police opened fire and killed him.

The newly released bodycam footage does not show the actual shooting.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Monday that multiple police agencies raided the encampment and that the officers close to the shooting were not wearing body cameras.

"Although the shooting is not captured on bodycam, there is bodycam footage of the aftermath," the agency said.

In the footage, a crash of repeated shots can be heard ringing out in the distance, while an officer says, "Oh shit, is this target practice?"

Officers in the bodycam footage discuss the shooting after they hear that a cop was hurt. One wonders if the shooting was friendly fire based on the sound of the gunshots.

"Man...you fucked your own officer up?" he mumbles.

The Atlanta Police Department told Insider, "In reviewing our officers Body Worn Cameras footage, it is apparent the shooting situation evolved quickly and our officers had no immediate knowledge of the events at the shooting site at the time the shooting occurred."

At another point in the video, officers can be heard shouting for someone to get out of a tent while threatening to release a K9 unit.

"Fuck around and you're gonna find out," one officer says.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced in a press release on Monday that it is opening a "thorough investigation" into the incident, including the actions of police officers, that led to Terán's death.

Terán's family has said it doesn't believe Terán would have shot at police.

"Manny was a kind person who helped anyone who needed it. He was a pacifist. They say he shot a police officer. I do not believe it," his mother, Belkis Terán, said in a statement shared with CBS News. "I do not understand why they will not even privately explain to us what happened to our child."

A private autopsy of Teran by the family found they were shot 13 times, according to The Guardian.

The Georgia State Patrol declined to comment due to an ongoing investigation. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on the incident further.

The Atlanta Police Foundation is building The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on a more than 300-acre piece of city-owned property in the forest.

The city approved the lease agreement in September of 2021. The group has said the training center will occupy about 85 acres, and 265 will be preserved as green space, but forest protectors and other social justice activists have loudly opposed the effort.

The project to build the law enforcement and firefighter training facility falls amid national calls for police reform and defunding. Atlanta's mayor and others have argued that the facility will help ensure that police are trained to modern standards and respect.

"The new Public Safety Training Facility is another step in our Administration's efforts to support our fire and police officers, while also focusing on sensible reform," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in statement on the project when the land was secured in 2021.

"This training facility will not only help boost morale, retention and recruitment of our public safety personnel, but will give us physical space to ensure that our officers and firefighters are receiving 21st century training, rooted in respect and regard for the communities they serve," she added. "We will continue to work with the impacted communities on how to best thoughtfully develop and preserve the surrounding property."