A northeast Georgia deputy on Wednesday shot and killed a man who was allegedly armed with a metal pipe, according to the GBI.
Banks County deputies were called to a home on Hebron Court in Commerce, about 30 minutes northeast of Athens, where they spoke with a taxi driver who told them his passenger refused to pay the fare, according to a GBI news release.
The deputy tried to take the passenger, later identified as 52-year-old Felix Catarino of Commerce, into custody, but the man ignored orders and instead grabbed a metal pipe and began approaching the deputy, the GBI said. The deputy fired his gun and struck the man, killing him, according to the GBI. An autopsy will be conducted by the state agency.
The GBI will handle the independent investigation. Once completed, it will turn over its findings to the Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Earlier Wednesday, police in Clayton County shot and killed 68-year-old Charles Calhoun, who they said pointed a gun at them, according to officials.
In that case, police were called to the 9100 block of Jenni Circle in Jonesboro around 5:20 a.m. after neighbors reported an armed man walking through the community, Chief Kevin Roberts said. Officers found Calhoun, who was in his pajamas armed with a long gun, and he was ordered to drop the weapon but instead pointed it at officers, Roberts said. An officer then fatally shot him.
Wednesday’s incidents were the 30th and 31st officer-involved shootings the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. By the same time last year, there had been 17.
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.
