A Forsyth County deputy shot an armed man while on patrol Thursday afternoon, sheriff’s officials said.
The deputy drove up to a dark-colored pickup truck sitting in the cul de sac of an undeveloped subdivision on Hopewell Road near Hubbard Town Road around 4 p.m. when he noticed the man in the truck had a rifle with him, the sheriff’s office said.
As the deputy exited his car to investigate, the man, later identified as 46-year-old Jeffery Todd Nielson, of Cumming, got out of his truck as well.
Nielson then pointed the rifle at the deputy and cocked it back, authorities said. The deputy opened fire, striking Nielson.
Nielson was taken to North East Regional Medical Center in Gainesville and is expected to recover, sheriff’s officials said. He is in stable condition.
The deputy, whose name was not released, will be on routine paid leave as the GBI investigates the shooting.
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