A spokesperson with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the officer was investigating the person around 9:30 p.m.at the intersection of Smith and Main Street in Eastman, which is about 140 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Advertisement
Smith had been with the Eastman Police Department since February 2011.
State police have named a suspect – 24-year-old Royheem Deeds – in the shooting death of a central Georgia police officer.
Officer Tim Smith encountered the individual in an Eastman neighbourhood, who exited his vehicle and fired his weapon, investigators said.
Deeds is considered armed and unsafe.
The country’s hot, tense summer between police and citizens erupted into more violence this weekend as two Georgia officers were shot – one fatally – during separate incidents just hours apart. Smith would have turned 31 on Monday, she said.
Whitley says Smith was responding to a suspicious person call when he encountered the suspect, exited his patrol auto and was shot.
The Latest on Georgia police officer who was fatally shot by a suspect who remains on the loose. That officer, whose name has not been released, was responding to a report of a vehicle break-in when one of two suspects opened fire, striking the officer, police said. Police have not released the names of the two juveniles – both 15 – who were arrested in his shooting.
When police responded to a 911 call, they were met by a man armed with knives, Suffolk County Police Department said.
Advertisement
Though he fought for his life after being shot and fired back at Deeds, Smith was not wearing a protective vest and he died from his injuries at the hospital, according to the GBI. The stabbed officer was transported to hospital, where he had facial surgery and is expected to survive, police said.
