Officers shot during early morning drug raid recovering

BYRON, Ga. — Two officers are recovering after they were shot while serving a warrant in Crawford County early Monday.

James Wynn is out of surgery and William Patterson has been treated and released.

Both officers were shot at close range with a shotgun.

Other officers shot and killed the man who opened fire. He was identified as Ranier Tyler Smith.

Channel 2’s Mark Winne spoke exclusively with the chief and SWAT commander who was there when the shooting happened.

“You hear the gunfire and it subsides and you see the smoke from the gunpowder rise out the door and then you hear your officers screaming they’re hurt or they’re down,” Byron police Capt. Bill Lavender said. “The emotions hits you, but your training overrides. You want to get your people out and get them help as quickly as possible.”

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Lavender is the commander of the Peach County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team, which includes Peach County deputies as well as Byron and Fort Valley police officers.

He said the ops plan for the early morning drug raid in the neighboring county was his. He said after the smoke cleared with two of his officers wounded and the suspect dead, he briefly wondered if he could’ve done anything differently, but he quickly decided he couldn’t have.

“That’s the call I’ve been fearing for 16 years as the police chief, the call from my captain saying that two of my officers are down from gunfire,” Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon said. “Your first thought is you just pray to God they're OK. And I do pray to God all the time for their safety.”

Cannon says they’ve been through a lot in the past two months.

Wynn and Patterson are the third and fourth officers on the Peach County team shot in the line of duty in the past seven weeks. Sgt Patrick Sondron and Deputy Daryl Smallwood, who were killed in the line of duty, were members of that team as well.

“We volunteer for this job,” Cannon said. “I just don't see why people are taking so much less value in a human life, especially those who are here to serve and protect, but I do know that it’s less than 1 percent of this country.”

Cannon says he and Wynn, along with five other officers, had just returned from Americus Sunday night where they attended the funeral for Officer Nick Smarr, one of two officers killed there in the last week.

“Eight hours later, he was back here in this community doing his job,” Cannon said.

Cannon was with Wynn and his family as the officer underwent surgery Monday.

“I wanted to see him for myself. I wanted to make sure he was OK with my own eyes. And I wanted to pray with him. And I wanted to tell him I loved him,” he said.

Lavender said this was the first time in their history that a team member has been shot during a SWAT operation.

Cox Media Group