In separate but similar incidents Monday, sheriff’s deputies in two Georgia counties fired on suspects who drove vehicles directly at law enforcement officers, according to the GBI.
In the first incident, a Polk County man was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries during a wild four-wheeler chase through the woods near Cedartown. The second incident involved an unrelated shooting in Franklin County after a deputy opened fire on a fleeing motorist who drove an SUV in the officer’s direction.
During the first incident in Polk, the suspect, who was later accused of methamphetamine possession, was temporarily surrounded but drove his ATV over an officer to escape. The officer suffered only minor injuries, according to the GBI.
Taylor McGhee, 31, of Cedartown, was arrested Monday on multiple charges, including possession of meth and possession of tools for the commission of a crime, the GBI said in a news release. More charges against McGhee are expected.
The incident began when Polk sheriff’s deputies were “investigating” McGhee as he rode a four-wheeler, the GBI said. No information was released about the circumstances that led police to follow McGhee.
The deputies lost track of the man when he rode into some woods near Cedar Oak Way, the news release states. Polk authorities requested assistance from Cedartown police and officials from both agencies formed a perimeter. However, McGhee drove over a Cedartown officer and escaped, according to the GBI.
After McGhee hit the officer, officials from both agencies fired at the ATV driver, but he continued on, authorities said. McGhee was taken into custody shortly after by Polk deputies, the GBI said.
Once officers captured McGhee, they realized he suffered a gunshot wound during the incident. He was taken to the hospital and later released into police custody. He was booked into the Polk County Jail, according to the state agency.
The GBI said it will investigate the shooting and the aggravated assault against the officer at the request of the Polk sheriff’s office.
In the second incident announced by the GBI on Tuesday, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office asked the state agency to investigate a shooting in Carnesville that occurred Monday.
According to investigators, a Franklin deputy tried to stop an SUV for traffic infractions. The driver did not stop and lost control, causing the deputy to crash into the SUV and disabling the patrol car.
GBI officials said the driver of the SUV turned around in a driveway as the deputy got out of his car and approached the vehicle. When the SUV drove toward the deputy, the officer fired several shots at the fleeing vehicle.
The deputy was not injured.
Franklin deputies found the SUV abandoned Tuesday morning. The GBI has yet to identify the driver or determine if that person sustained any injuries during the shooting.
The two cases marked the 20th and 21st officer-involved shootings the state agency has been asked to investigate this year.
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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