A man wearing body armor who refused to drop his rifle during a confrontation with Pickens County sheriff’s deputies Monday morning has died, state officials said.
Norman Edward Dawson was identified as the man shot by Pickens deputies, the GBI said. No deputies were injured during the incident.
Deputies responded to a home in Jasper for a wellness check around 9 a.m. after a family member called 911 and expressed concern that Dawson had a gun, the GBI said. The caller told dispatch they heard a pop while on the phone with Dawson.
At the home on Ginger Drive, a heavily wooded one-lane road, responding deputies said they were confronted by the 56-year-old, who was carrying a rifle and wearing a ballistic vest. The deputies made several attempts to de-escalate the situation, the GBI said, but Dawson refused to drop his rifle.
According to the Pickens sheriff’s office, Dawson fired several shots at deputies. The GBI did not say if Dawson fired his rifle.
Dawson was shot multiple times and treated by emergency medical personnel at the scene, the GBI said. He was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
The GBI has opened an independent investigation into the shooting. Once complete, the results will be turned over to the district attorney for the Appalachian Judicial Circuit for review.
This is the 53rd shooting involving law enforcement that the GBI has been asked to investigate this year.
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