A man wanted out of Bartow County for shooting a K-9 officer during an attempted arrest was fatally shot by law enforcement in DeKalb County on Friday, the GBI said.
Geoffrey Walker had multiple active warrants when Bartow deputies spotted him driving a Honda Civic on U.S. 411 near I-75 Thursday afternoon and began to pursue him, according to officials. After a vehicle pursuit, the 30-year-old fled into a nearby wood line, and K-9 Athos was released by their handler to assist in Walker’s apprehension, the Bartow sheriff’s office said.
Multiple shots were heard and the K-9 was eventually found injured. Anthos was taken to a nearby animal hospital, but their condition was not provided.
About 24 hours later, the GBI said Walker was found at a hotel in DeKalb by officers with the Bartow County Drug Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. Walker is accused of then running through several neighborhoods and into the woods near the county’s sanitation department on Leroy Scott Drive.
Once officers again found Walker, they gave him commands to drop his gun, but Walker allegedly refused. The GBI said he fired his weapon toward law enforcement and officers returned fire, striking him. Walker died at the scene. No officers were injured.
According to the Bartow sheriff’s office, Walker was wanted in connection with a family violence incident that happened Wednesday at a Walmart in Cartersville. He also had additional warrants in another family violence and obstruction incident in Floyd County.
The GBI was asked to conduct an investigation into Friday’s shooting and will release the findings to the DeKalb district attorney’s office for review.
The deadly incident marked the 79th officer-involved shooting the state agency has been asked to investigate in 2023. At this point last year, there had been 95 such incidents.
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