The GBI is investigating after a Saturday evening shootout at a Rockdale gas station left a Georgia State Patrol trooper injured and a suspect shot, officials said.
A trooper and his cadet were patrolling I-20 at about 11:40 p.m. when they tried to stop an SUV for speeding, according to the GBI. A GSP spokesperson said the SUV and another unidentified vehicle were allegedly racing on the interstate.
According to the state agency, the SUV got off I-20 at Sigman Road, where it drove into a gas station parking lot. To avoid the troopers, the driver, Tony Ward, 34, kept circling the pumps, the GBI said.
After Ward eventually stopped the vehicle, his passenger, identified as 41-year-old Chester Williams, got out and shot at the troopers, the state agency said.
“One of the troopers returned fire, hitting Williams,” the GBI said.
Williams, of Jonesboro, was arrested and taken to a hospital to be treated, while Ward ran away from the scene was was found by Rockdale County deputies at a nearby business, according to the state agency. Ward, of Atlanta, was then taken into custody and turned over to the GSP, officials said.
The suspects’ charges were not released, but the GBI said it was requested by the GSP to investigate the shooting and aggravated assault “on an officer.”
The trooper was taken to the hospital “for observation,” after a bullet struck his baton and “resulted in the injury,” according to the GBI. Officials have not said what happened to the other vehicle on the interstate. The names of the suspects were not released and the GSP deferred further comment to the GBI.
After the GBI investigation, the case file will be given to the Rockdale County District Attorney’s Office for review. The incident was the 81st officer-involved shooting the state agency has been asked to investigate this year and the second over the weekend.
On Friday, Lovejoy police fatally shot 40-year-old Jean Cesar after he allegedly pointed a handgun at them during a traffic stop. An officer had noticed the Hampton man was inside a suspicious car in a Lovejoy parking lot that morning, the GBI said.
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