Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

GBI: Officer shoots, kills man who threatened SW Georgia deputies with knife

Rodney Morrison, 47, died in a hospital after the shooting in Leesburg, according to the GBI.
Rodney Morrison, 47, died in a hospital after the shooting in Leesburg, according to the GBI.
By
Updated July 13, 2020

A man was shot in southwest Georgia on Sunday after threatening deputies with a knife, the GBI said.

Rodney Morrison, 47, died in a hospital after the shooting, according to the state agency.

Lee County sheriff’s deputies were sent to the man’s home on Linden Road to serve court-mandated paperwork, the GBI said in a news release.

When they arrived to serve the order about 2:30 p.m., Morrison made threats, escaped from his home and ran to a field a short distance away, according to the GBI. Leesburg police officers arrived at the scene to assist in the incident.

A Leesburg police officer shot Morrison, the GBI said. No officers were injured in the incident.

Leesburg is about 155 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta.

The incident is the 53rd shooting involving a police officer that the GBI has been called to investigate in 2020, according to GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles.

Earlier on Sunday, the GBI announced it was investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting in Chamblee. Police fatally shot a man after authorities said he fired a rifle at officers.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don't involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI's tally.

About the Author

Asia Simone Burns is a watchdog reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.

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