Some key points here, there's more there so check it out
It appears Travis McMIchael, Greg McMichael, and Bryan William were following, in 'hot pursuit', a burglary suspect, with solid first hand probable cause, in their neighborhood, and asking/telling him to stop. It appears their intent was to stop and hold this criminal suspect until law enforcement arrived. Under Georgia Law this is perfectly legal.
The angle of the shots and the video show this was from the beginning or almost immediately became-- a fight over the shotgun. Given the fact Arbery initiated the fight, at the point Arbery grabbed the shotgun, under Georgia Law, McMichael was allowed to use deadly force to protect himself. Just as importantly, while we know McMichael had his finger on the trigger, we do not know who caused the firings. Arbery would only had to pull the shotgun approximately 1/16th to 1/8th of one inch to fire the weapon himself and in the height of an altercation this is entirely possible. Arbery's mental health records & prior convictions help explain his apparent aggresive nature and his possible thought pattern to attack an armed man.
McMichael stated there have been several Break-ins in the neighborhood and further the suspect was caught on surveillance video. McMichael stated he was in his front yard and saw the suspect from the break-ins "hauling ass" down Satilla Drive toward Burford Drive. McMichael stated he then ran inside his house and called to Travis (McMichael) and said, "Travis the guy is running down the street lets go". McMichael stated he went to his bedroom and grabbed his .357 Magnum and Travis grabbed his shotgun because they "didn't know if the male was armed or not". McMichael stated, "the other night" they saw the same male and he stuck his hand down his pants which lead them to believe the male was armed.
OCGA 17-4-60 "A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion.
However, since we were initially requested to handle the case the victim's mother has clearly expressed she wants myself and my office off the case. She sees a conflict in that my son works in the Brunswick District Attorney's Office where Greg McMichael retired some time ago. She believes there are kinships between the parties [there are not[ and has made other unfounded allegations bias[es]. As such, I believe it is better for my office to step out and am going to recuse myself and the Assistants working for me from handling the case. I am contacting the Georgia Attorney General Office and seeking their assistance in finding another District Attorney in the State to handle the further 'evaluation for prosecution' in this case.