“He is considered armed and unsafe and citizens are asked to call authorities if they spot him”, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton.
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Smith radioed for help after he was shot and identified Deeds as the shooter, according to the GBI.
Eastman, the county seat of Dodge County, has about 5,500 residents.
“Officer Smith exited his patrol auto to investigate and was shot by the individual”, the bureau said in a statement. Smith joined the Eastman Police Department in February 2011 after following his father’s footsteps to become an officer.
“Officer Smith arrived in the area and encountered an individual”.
Smith was not wearing a body camera.
“We were engaged. We were trying to get on our feet before getting married”, his fiancee Chelsea Clark told CNN, explaining that Smith always hugged her and his children and told them he loved them every day before work.
The GBI is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to locating Royheem Delshawn Deeds.
Anyone with any information on the shooting can call the GBI Eastman office at 478-374-6988. Five officers were shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, on July 7 and three were ambushed and fatally shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 17.
Officers shot to death on duty are up 67 percent this year, according to the latest data gathered by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. He was taken to a local hospital where he died. One volunteer picked up a bullet casing and handed it to police. Two 15-year-old suspects were arrested after exchanging gunfire.
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Davis and the two other officers will be placed on administrative leave as per policy standards. After police approached the auto, someone inside started firing at the officers, who then returned fire, according to Marietta police spokeswoman Kelah Wallace said.
