A North Georgia district attorney has cleared a deputy and an officer of any wrongdoing in two separate officer-involved shootings, including one that left a man dead, the Dalton Daily Citizen-News reported.
Dalton police officer Eduardo Guerrero and Whitfield County Sheriff’s Capt. Clay Pangle were “legally justified” in their actions and “no charges will be brought against either officer,” Conasauga Judicial Circuit DA Bert Poston told the Daily Citizen.
In a news release obtained by the newspaper, Poston said, “I have advised the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that we have closed out the OIS (officer-involved shooting) review” in both cases.
The first incident took place in July 2019 when 32-year-old David Schmitt stood in the middle of Abutment and Callahan roads attempting to stop cars, the GBI said. When Guerrero approached Schmitt, the suspect allegedly attacked the officer, AJC.com previously reported.
RELATED: Man attacked Dalton officer, stole Taser before being shot, GBI says
The officer used his Taser on Schmitt, but the suspect ended up getting the Taser and trying to use it on the officer, the GBI said. That’s when Guerrero shot several times, hitting Schmitt at least once.
Schmitt was taken to Hamilton Medical Center, where he was later released and booked into the Whitfield County Jail. He faces charges of aggravated assault, obstruction and a misdemeanor count of failure to appear in court, according to jail records.
Credit: Whitfield County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Whitfield County Sheriff's Office
About three months later, a similar incident led to a deadly officer-involved shooting.
Matthew James Fleming of Atlanta was shot and killed by Pangle after Fleming was found in the middle of Abutment Road yelling at cars and people while refusing to follow the cop’s commands, the GBI said. This incident occurred within a mile of the earlier officer-involved shooting.
MORE: Man shot, killed by deputy after yelling at cars, trying to draw weapon, GBI says
Before the shooting, Fleming allegedly tried to draw a weapon from his waist, which led to Pangle shooting the man several times, killing him. At the time, the GBI did not say whether a weapon was collected from the scene.
The GBI investigated 84 officer-involved shootings last year, with these two instances being the 45th and 71st, respectively.
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