Grand jury clears deputies in fatal shooting of Coast murder suspect after Hurricane Ida

A grand jury has found no wrongdoing in the 2021 officer-involved shooting death of a murder suspect in Hancock County.

Martin Luther “Caption” Bowman III, 80, was the suspected killer of George Hobart Shaw, 65, at Bowman’s home in Pearlington on Aug. 31.

Shaw lived in the home with Bowman, according to a Sun Herald report.

Hancock County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call at the home on stilts on Kelly Road off Highway 90 as floodwaters from Hurricane Ida still surrounded the bottom floor.

Bowman was fatally shot while deputies after they arrived at the scene.

Both men were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds by then-acting Hancock County Coroner Derek Turnage.

“The Grand Jury finds no criminal conduct on behalf of the Deputies involved from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department,” the report says. “Therefore, we find no further action is warranted by this body.”

The report was submitted on June 8, 2022.

Sun Herald reporter Margaret Baker contributed to this report.