A Gwinnett County man faces a charge of first-degree vehicular homicide after authorities said he hit and killed a northeast Georgia deputy who was responding to a crash on I-85.
Abdulhafiz Tawfik Abdullahi, 21, of Lawrenceville, is accused of hitting Franklin County sheriff’s Deputy William Garner on Sunday as he was helping people involved in a single-vehicle wreck, according to Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Stallings.
That initial crash happened near mile marker 164, Stallings said. Garner, 53, arrived at the scene about 7 p.m., she said.
Abdullahi was driving a 2018 Honda Accord south on I-85. At some point, he lost control of the car, went into a median and hit Garner, authorities said.
Garner was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Abdullahi was not injured in the crash.
Garner, who was with the sheriff’s office for just over a year, is the third Franklin deputy killed in the line of duty. Deputies were also killed in 2014 and 1964.
Garner previously worked for various other Georgia law enforcement agencies, including the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office and Pendergrass, Braselton, Duluth, Norcross and Jefferson police departments, according to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Garner is the fourth Georgia law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in 2020. A police dog, K-9 Thorr of the Henry County Police Department, died earlier this year, too.
All of the deaths this year have involved a vehicle crash or pursuit. Prior to Garner’s death, the last officer killed in Georgia was Smyrna’s Christopher Ewing in April. Ewing, 34, died when his patrol car was struck by a suspected drunken driver, AJC.com previously reported.
Across the U.S., 132 officers or deputies have been killed this year, according to the memorial page. That number is on track to pass the 2019 total of 147.
Last year, Georgia lost seven officers and two police dogs in the line of duty.
Funeral arrangements for Garner were not complete late Monday.
