Bradley Jamal Green, a 24-year-old Black man from Americus, Georgia, was killed on July 15, 2017, when gunfire erupted at a reunion-style block party in the Bell Street area. The gathering had tents and grills and looked like a neighborhood celebration before the violence began. Green and another man were shot; Green was taken to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center and did not survive, while the other victim, identified as Rodney Greene, was wounded and treated at the hospital.

In the first hours after the shooting, investigators said the suspected gunman fled. Authorities publicly identified a 22-year-old Americus man, Kentavous Cortez Wilkerson, as the person they were seeking; by Monday morning he had turned himself in to the Americus Police Department and was booked on felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Rodney Greene was later taken into custody and reported charged with reckless conduct and giving false statements to law enforcement.