A Savannah man was arrested Monday after locking himself inside a parked tractor-trailer for hours in Garden City and shooting at police, according to the GBI.
Officers from multiple agencies responded around 8 a.m. after a truck driver called 911 to report that a man, later identified as 25-year-old Joseff Orion Smith, had climbed into his truck that was parked in a lot at 6069 Commerce Boulevard, according to a GBI news release. The driver said he had an unsecured handgun inside, and the man had locked himself inside.
Police ordered Smith to get out of the truck, but he refused and at some point fired at officers, the release states. A Port Wentworth police officer returned fire, though neither Smith nor the officers were injured.
At that point, Savannah Police Department’s SWAT team was called in to help negotiate with Smith, according to the release. After a couple of hours of failed negotiations, the SWAT team shot tear gas into the cab of the truck to get Smith out.
He was then taken into custody and a handgun was recovered at the scene, the release states.
After being taken to a hospital for observation, he was booked into the Chatham County Jail and charged with aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer and criminal attempt to commit a felony, online jail records show.
It was the 41st officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. By the same time last year, there had been 24.
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
