‘Losing one of your own’: Funeral set for Georgia officer killed in line of duty
A Warm Springs police officer killed while on duty will be remembered at a funeral next week.
Services honoring Sgt. Chris Fisher’s life will take place at Flat Creek Baptist Church in Fayetteville on Tuesday, Sept. 8, according to an obituary. His family will receive friends and loved ones during a visitation from 1-3 p.m., and the funeral service will follow immediately afterward.
Fisher was fatally shot late Tuesday by a man whom he had arrested days before, authorities said. The suspect was later found in South Carolina and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the GBI.
The officer’s death has shaken the small community located in Meriwether County — about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta — and its six-person police department, whose leader on Thursday addressed the loss publicly for the first time.
“I don’t think you can ever prepare for something like this. Regardless of the department’s size, no leader can ever prepare for losing one of your own,” Warm Springs Police Chief Matt Mayfield told reporters.
He spoke during a brief news conference outside the department’s headquarters, saying he was personally covering patrol shifts while some officers took time to mourn.
“The weight on us is heavy today,” Mayfield said. “It will continue to be for some time.”
Because of its size, the agency is tight-knit, and officers are co-workers and friends, he said. The Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office has been assisting the small city with public safety since Wednesday, Mayfield confirmed.
The chief said Fisher “served with dedication” and with pride. Mayfield added: “He was an even better man and an ever better father.”
Fisher, 36, grew up in Newnan and was a married father of two, according to his obituary.
He had been finishing a traffic stop near the Warm Springs city hall when another driver pulled up next to his patrol car and fatally shot him, according to the GBI, which is investigating the death. The GBI later identified the suspect as 23-year-old Jimmy Steverson, and said he was located hours later after authorities in South Carolina stopped a car in which he was a passenger.
Steverson was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died, the GBI said.
Less than a week before the shooting, Fisher had arrested Steverson on charges of marijuana possession, possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, records show. About 12 hours after he was booked into the jail, Steverson was released on bond, according to the documents.
GBI spokesperson Sara Lue said Thursday no additional details were available when asked if Fisher was targeted or if Steverson recognized the officer.
According to records from the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, Fisher had been with the Warm Springs department since May 18 and became a sergeant in July. He started his first law enforcement position in Georgia in 2010, and he previously worked for sheriff’s offices in Heard, Fayette and Meriwether counties.
The Fayette sheriff’s office, in a social media post, remembered Fisher as someone who built strong bonds with colleagues during his time there. He spent the most time in his law enforcement career working for that agency, from July 2018 to April 2025, records show.
“Some losses hit differently. This is one of those,” the post read. “We will always remember Sergeant Fisher as a law enforcement officer, a friend, a brother, a dad, and someone who will always be a part of the Fayette County community.”
Fisher is at least the fifth Georgia law enforcement officer to be killed this year in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement deaths.