A grand jury filed attempted murder charges Thursday against a man who allegedly shot and injured a DeKalb County police officer.
Michael Bernard Hughey is charged with shooting Officer Deron Fulton while fleeing a routine traffic stop on Aug. 23.
Along with attempted murder, the grand jury also charged Hughey, 37, with aggravated assault on a peace officer and three gun possession counts that could land him in jail for up to 50 years.
Fulton, who was placed on leave after the shooting for his injuries, has returned to work full-time, DeKalb police spokeswoman Lt. Pam Kunz said.
“It’s something that gave us all a scare in the law enforcement community, because we have had officers killed in last five years,” DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Fortunately, no vital organs were hit, no bones were hit and the officer survived and was not seriously injured.”
Fulton pulled over the car Hughey was riding in on the day of the shooting and discovered through a background check of all inside the vehicle that Hughey had an outstanding arrest warrant.
Hughey allegedly ran, and Fulton chased him on foot. At some point, gunfire was exchanged.
“Mr. Hughey drew his weapon and got the drop on the officer,” James said. “Mr. Hughey shot the officer in the side.”
The bullet entered and exited Fulton’s side and was caught in the back of the officer’s ballistic vest, police said.
Hughey has a criminal history dating to 1991 that includes charges for theft, cocaine possession, aggravated assault and several gun charges.
James said he takes prosecuting an alleged police shooter seriously and wants to make certain that Hughey receives the maximum punishment the law will allow.
“Our police officers leave home … and their job is to protect us,” he said. “They put their lives on the line for us. So yes, it bothers us when someone targets a police officer, particularly given the history of violence against police officers in this county.
“So we’re going to in our power to make sure that the right thing is done in this case.”
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