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Graphic video captures shootout involving deputy

By Ashley Swann
By Ashley Swann

TROUP COUNTY, Ga. — Dramatic video obtained exclusively by Channel 2 Action News shows a shootout between a deputy and a suspect in Troup County.

The shooting happened Monday afternoon as the deputy was performing a welfare check at the suspect's home on Jackson Street. Officers said the man's father had called in a report that his adult son was in the midst of a mental health episode.

Deputy Michael Hockett’s dash camera was running as he responded to the scene.

In the video, Hockett is heard yelling at the suspect, “Drop the gun now!”

Moments later he’s seen running away as the armed suspect chases him. Hockett jumps a fence and the suspect begins firing at him.

Hockett returns fire, hitting the suspect in the shoulder. Hockett was also hit in his forehead, elbow and waist by pellets from a shotgun blast during the shootout.

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After being shot, the suspect, identified as Matthew Edmondson, returns to his home, causing an hours-long SWAT standoff involving several agencies. Hockett took off in his patrol car and drove to safety.

Both Hockett and Edmondson survived.

“I'm thankful that the Lord seen me through it. I've replayed it in my head and I know in my heart that I did everything I could to do the best I could with the situation I'd been placed in,” Hockett said.

Edmondson’s mother witnessed part of the shootout and frantically called 911.

“I need an ambulance. Please hurry. My son’s been shot,” she said. “There was a deputy here we had just came in. and I don't know if the deputy was shot or not. I don't know what's going on but I'm scared to death."

She was then kept in the home for six hours during the standoff.

“He’s at the house but he has a gun. I’m scared,” she told the dispatcher. “I’m trying to get away from him.”

Edmondson eventually surrendered and is now facing several charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

Cox Media Group

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