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Morganton man shot by Atlanta police officer speaks out for first time

By Nefertiti Jaquez
By Nefertiti Jaquez

ATLANTA — For the first time, we're hearing from the North Carolina man who was shot by an Atlanta traffic officer outside the Georgia Dome.

Noel Hall, of Morganton, said he and his family were in town attending a motocross event for his son when the night took a terrifying turn.

"He missed my heart by a couple of inches. I almost ended up dead," Hall told Channel 2’s Nefertiti Jaquez. "It went through the back shoulder part of my arm and back into my chest, and through the passenger side window, missing my wife's head by inches.”

Noel Hall, 46, of Morganton, North Carolina, was visiting Atlanta to attend a motocross competition at the Georgia Dome last month.

Hall said he and his family were driving to the designated pit area for racers when he encountered Atlanta police Sgt. Mathieu Cadeau at the corner of Ivan Allen Boulevard and Northside Drive.

“He wouldn't look at my pass to get back into the pits. So I made a sharp right and drove around him. He pulled a gun and fired at me and shot me," Hall told Jaquez.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Cadeau was conducting traffic and ordered Hall to go in one direction, but Hall reportedly wanted to go another direction.

Investigators also noted that Hall then drove his Ford 350 van toward the officer, at which point the officer opened fire.

“I never threatened him, I never drove in his direction,” Hall said.

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That sentiment was also echoed by his attorney, Shean Williams.

“The physical evidence shows, the trajectory shows that he fired the weapon from the driver side of the van. So he was not in any threat,” Williams said.

Jaquez obtained a copy of Cadeau's disciplinary history, and while the 10-year veteran has a suspension for unnecessary force in 2014, he's also been cleared in many of the complaints filed against him.

As for Hall and his family, his wife, Christie, said she's just glad he's still here.

“Where would I be if my husband wouldn't have made it?” she said.

Jaquez contacted APD for reaction to what Hall said. They sent her a statement saying:

"In 2016, the Atlanta Police Department had over 1.3 million citizen contacts. Out of those interactions, we only had seven officer involved shootings. This year we have experienced three. Our goal every year is to have none and we work tirelessly toward that effort."

They also made it clear that they will be transparent and will provide any information they can during the course of the investigation.

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