A man who was shot by Athens police after officials said he wielded a machete at an officer has been charged with aggravated assault, according to the GBI.
The Clarke County sheriff obtained a warrant charging Salvador Salazar, 28, of North Carolina, with one count of aggravated assault on a peace officer in connection with the incident, the GBI said Wednesday in a statement.
RELATED: Machete-wielding man shot by Athens police officer, officials say
Salazar has been in the hospital in serious condition since Saturday’s attack on Athens-Clarke County police Officer Roger Williams and the subsequent shooting.
Athens police were sent to the University Gardens Apartments on Baxter Drive about 5 p.m. on a domestic violence call, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said. When officers arrived, they found Salazar armed with a machete.
Officers repeatedly told him to drop the machete and he ignored those commands, Miles said.
The man brandished the weapon in a threatening manner toward Williams, police spokesman Geoffrey Gilland said.
“Fearing for his life, our officer discharged his service weapon and struck the male in the torso,” he said.
Williams was placed on administrative leave with pay after the shooting. He was not injured, Gilland said.
The officer-involved shooting was the 66th the GBI has been requested to investigate in 2019, according to Miles.
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.
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