A 29-year-old man accused of stealing from a CBD dispensary was hit in a shootout with Savannah police on Monday night, officials said.
Officers were called around 7:20 p.m. to Mary Jane’s CBD Dispensary on Ogeechee Road, where the suspect, Quayshon Whitehurst, allegedly stole a bookbag from an employee, according to the GBI.
After searching the dispensary, officers found Whitehurst across the street behind a Circle K convenience store. An officer told him to stop, but officials said Whitehurst pulled his gun out and fired at the officer.
“The officer returned fire, hitting Whitehurst,” the GBI stated. No officers were injured.
Whitehurst, of Hinesville, was given medical aid at the scene and taken to a local hospital, where he is said to be stable, according to the state agency. He is facing charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and felony obstruction, the GBI stated.
Credit: GBI
Credit: GBI
Savannah police are looking into the alleged theft, while the GBI said it is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting. Once the GBI investigation is complete, it will turn over its findings to the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
The incident was the 34th officer-involved shooting the state agency was asked to investigate this year and the second on Monday. In an earlier case, at least one person fired on law enforcement in Buena Vista, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus.
A Buena Vista police officer and a Marion County sheriff’s deputy returned fire, but no one was injured, and the “people who were involved in the shooting ran away,” the GBI said. It was not clear if the suspects in that case had been apprehended.
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