Mom turns in son accused of forcing a boy to strip at gunpoint, GA cops say
An arrest has been made in the case of “a very disturbing video” that showed a boy being forced to strip off his clothes at gunpoint, according to investigators in eastern Georgia.
The suspect was turned in by his mother just hours after Sheriff Richard S. Coleman posted an emotional video vowing to catch the culprit, authorities said .
Coleman announced the arrest in a follow-up video posted Oct. 8, but did not release the suspect’s identity. The investigation will be turned over to the police in Savannah, where the incident occurred, he said.
“This is just another young person going the wrong way,” Coleman says. “His mother turned him in to the Chatham County jail after she saw our video. ... We were tracking him down, but mom brought him in first.”
The video was recorded Wednesday, Oct. 8, near Beach High School “in the Liberty City area of Savannah,” station WSAV reported.
Savannah police say the suspect and victim are juveniles.
The suspect has been “charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a person under 18, and false imprisonment,” police said in a news release.
Coleman’s original video, posted around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, had more than 170,000 views as of Oct. 9. He admits to being angry in the video, and noted many in the community had also seen the video and were contacting him with tips.
“The video was of a young man being held at gunpoint, being made to take his clothes off in the middle of the street and at some point he was even hit with this weapon,” Coleman says in the video.
“Listen, whoever you are ... I am going to get you off the streets of Chatham County and in this jailhouse where you belong. ... We will not live in fear. We will not be defeated by crime in this county. ... I am going to find you and I will deliver you to whatever jurisdictional police there is.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Mom turns in son accused of forcing a boy to strip at gunpoint, GA cops say."