GBI investigating shooting involving Coweta County deputy

Investigators said the man fired at the deputy's patrol vehicle and the deputy shot back.

Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office

Investigators said the man fired at the deputy's patrol vehicle and the deputy shot back.

A man was flown to a hospital in critical condition Sunday after he was hit during a gunfire exchange with a Coweta County deputy, officials said.

Mario Paul Clarke, 26, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition, according to the GBI. The deputy was not hit, and no other officers were injured.

The incident began near a RaceTrac on Amlajack Boulevard about 1 a.m., the GBI said. A victim flagged down Newnan police and reported that a silver 2015 Chrysler 200 had been stolen.

Officers began pursuing the vehicle out of the gas station parking lot and onto I-85 northbound. The driver, later identified as Clarke, came to a stop near mile marker 48, got out of the vehicle and ran into a wooded area.

As officers and deputies were searching, the suspect was seen near an industrial park and he ran away again. The GBI said a Newnan officer twice deployed his Taser at Clarke, but both times it was ineffective. A police dog was brought to the area, and deputies and officers began searching for Clarke.

When Clarke left the woods and passed in front of a patrol vehicle, the deputy driving it deployed his Taser. Clarke then pointed a handgun and fired at the deputy, striking the vehicle. The deputy returned fire multiple times, hitting Clarke, the GBI said.

The Coweta sheriff’s office on Monday released a 13-second dashboard camera video of Clarke running in front of the patrol vehicle moments before the shooting.

The officer-involved shooting was the 24th such incident the GBI has been asked to investigate this year and the second that the agency responded to Sunday. About 12 hours earlier, officials in Douglasville called the GBI after a man was found fatally shot following a police chase and subsequent manhunt.

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.