GBI investigating 4 shootings involving law enforcement over 24-hour span

ATLANTA — Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are now looking into four officer-involved shootings that all happened within just 24 hours across the area.

The first happened in Newton County, followed by the second in Polk County. The third happened near Grant Park and the fourth incident happened in Bibb County.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington spoke with a retired police detective on Thursday who said we might be seeing more police-involved shootings because more people are violently engaging with officers during traffic stops and disturbance calls.

The shootings happened within 24 hours from Tuesday going into Wednesday.

The first happened at an Oyo Hotel in Covington. In that case, a domestic disturbance call ended with a police officer shot in the head and the 23-year-old suspected shooter dead. The officer survived.

Just a few hours later, in Polk County, investigators responded to another domestic call where officials say a deputy shot a man armed with a gun.

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According to the GBI, the third incident started as a traffic stop and subsequent car chase near Grant Park on Wednesday. It ended with a crash and shootout between a Georgia State Patrol Trooper and a driver.

At last check, the driver is still at the hospital in stable condition.

The last one was Wednesday evening. Deputies in Bibb County shot a murder suspect they say reached for a gun when they attempted to pull the suspect over. That suspect survived.

“It’s very shocking that we’re seeing all these officer-involved shootings,” retired Atlanta police detective and master instructor Orrick Curry said.

He told Washington that officers often have to deal with a lot of dangerous scenarios while responding to traffic stops and domestic disturbance calls.

“Officers want to be able to do their job and go home,” Curry said. “They don’t want to be caught in an officer-involved shooting because that is a lot to deal with.”

The GBI is investigating all four incidents. According to their records, there have been 43 officer-involved shootings so far this year.

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