A Covington man was shot and killed after grabbing an officer’s Taser following a domestic dispute, the GBI said Thursday.
According to investigators, a 911 call was placed from a Spillers Road home to report domestic violence. Covington police officers responded and spoke with a woman who lives at the residence.
The woman told officers that Johnny Michael Gilbert, 43, left the home just before officers arrived, the GBI said. The woman, who did not need medical care, was told to call 911 if Gilbert returned.
At 10:26 p.m., the 911 center received a second call stating that Gilbert had returned and was violent, a GBI spokeswoman said. Officers returned to the home and found Gilbert outside.
“As officers were attempting to detain Gilbert, he began to violently resist,” the GBI said in an emailed statement. “One of the officers fired a Taser at Gilbert, but it was ineffective. As officers struggled with Gilbert, he took an officer’s Taser and began to rise to his feet.”
That led an officer to fire a handgun at Gilbert, according to investigators. He was treated at the scene before being taken to a hospital, where he died.
The Covington police department requested the GBI’s assistance in investigating the officer-involved shooting. The incident is the 83rd such shooting in Georgia this year and the first involving Covington police.
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.
