GBI: Man shot by deputy may have been on drugs

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into one of there officer-involved shootings that happened Friday. (Credit: The Macon Telegraph)

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into one of there officer-involved shootings that happened Friday. (Credit: The Macon Telegraph)

A man had “erratic” behavior and may have been on drugs when he got into a fight with a Bibb County deputy before he was shot and killed.

Larry Daniel Matthews, 57, was shot Friday afternoon along the 500 block of Colquitt Street in Macon after officials say he got into an altercation with deputy Gregg Ussery. Matthews allegedly shoplifted from a Family Dollar before the incident.

“In our interviews, we uncovered some kind of erratic-type behavior from (Matthews),” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent J.T. Ricketson said.

Matthews allegedly fought Ussery who tried Tasering him before using attempting to use his pepper spray. When those didn’t work, Ussery shot him, officials said. At one point during the fight, Matthews used Ussery’s pepper spray against him.

An autopsy could be performed Tuesday and toxicology tests could determine if drugs were in his system during the fight, the newspaper reported.

“Most people would have already gone to compliant behavior, and he was continuing to be combative,” Ricketson said. “We’re just curious to see if he was under the influence. We don’t know, though. That’s why we do that examination.”

The GBI is investigating the incident, which was one of three officer-involved shootings Friday .

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