A pistol recovered 42 feet from where Zadarious Dorsey fell after being shot by a Newnan police officer carried the 18-year-old's DNA, the Coweta County District Attorney's Office said on Monday, citing testing by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the Atlanta Focal reported.

Source: Atlanta Focal

Dorsey was fatally shot in the early hours of October 3 in Newnan. In its October 3 statement, the GBI said an officer followed a white car to Cliff Circle, five men got out and four ran, and the officer chased Dorsey, deployed a Taser that was ineffective, and then saw Dorsey pull a gun from his waistband area before firing multiple shots after ordering him to stop and drop the gun. Dorsey was taken to a hospital and later died, and no officers were injured, the GBI said.

Source: Georgia Bureau of Investigation

The DA's office said the recovered gun was a 9mm Canik pistol that had been reported stolen in Albany, and investigators said it was the only firearm recovered at the scene, the Focal reported.

Dorsey's family and their attorneys, who reviewed body-camera footage last week, say the video does not show him holding a gun. Family attorney Harry Daniels questioned the distance between Dorsey and the gun: “We don't believe that physics would allow him to toss a gun that distance away if he was shot immediately and fell immediately,” Daniels said, according to the Focal. The Savannah Herald also reported the family's account of the evidence review, including the 42-foot distance shown to them.

Source: Savannah Herald

The DA's office also said body-camera footage captures the officer calling Dorsey by his nickname, “Dae Dae,” and that the officer had been present during Dorsey's arrests in May 2024 and October 2025 and when he was trespassed from Newnan High School in August 2023, the Focal reported. The DA's office said Dorsey was barred from possessing a firearm under bond conditions in cases in Coweta and Carroll counties, and its release did not address whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop him.

The GBI investigation is active and ongoing. Once complete, it will be given to the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for review, the GBI said.