ATLANTA — The mother of a teen killed by a driver during a police chase wants action to prevent another tragedy.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Georgia State Patrol said the suspect ran a red light at Little 5 Points, smashing into the Cooper Schoenke’s car and killing him. He was 19 years old.
His mother, Kate Schoenke, has joined the call by some lawmakers and groups to change the state patrol’s policy on chases. She told Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach that she hopes others will hear his story and want to get involved.
“It just feels empty,” she said.
Kate Schoenke said she got an alert on her phone April 14 and came to the scene of the crash. She calls her son a kind spirit who was taken too soon.
“He was just a joy, and he was just coming into his comfort zone of who he was and what he wanted to do,” she said.
The suspect, 23-year-old Faduma Mohamed, is now out of the hospital and booked into jail on charges including murder.
“What she was doing was horrific and terrifying and incredibly irresponsible,” Kate Schoenke said.
The mother wants to see common-sense change when it comes to high-speed chases, especially in busy, neighborhood areas, and for troopers to get prior approval from a supervisor.
“The end result is going to be absolute chaos in anyway shape or form, every single time,” she said.
In a statement, the Department of Public Safety said it was the suspect’s reckless driving that caused the risk, and it’s their responsibility to stop.
“The Department’s pursuit policy is grounded in law, shaped by training and guided by a clear standard that actions be objectively reasonable,” they said. “We take significant steps to train for, oversee, review and evaluate our officers’ pursuits and pursuit decision-making.”
A full review is underway.
“It needs to change,” Kate Schoenke said. “This doesn’t need to happen to another person, another family.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- GA couple sentenced for padlocking fridge, allowing son to molest half-sister in exchange for food
- Police ask for help identifying woman shot, killed in Atlanta
- Sandy Springs mother accused in daughter’s drowning found not guilty by reason of insanity
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
