A suspected drunken driver was shot and killed by police Saturday morning after leading authorities on a multicounty chase and then pointing a gun at officers, the GBI said.
The agency was called to investigate the deadly police shooting about 2:45 a.m. in Spalding County, agency spokeswoman Natalie Ammons said in a news release. Authorities said 29-year-old Stephen Neil Weigand was shot by two Lovejoy police officers who assisted in the chase.
According to the GBI, the pursuit began about 1 a.m. when Clayton County police received reports of a drunken driver leaving a Jonesboro bar in a tan Lincoln Town Car. Authorities said dispatchers received multiple 911 calls from drivers who said they were the victims of hit-and-runs as Weigand left Taps Bar and Grill.
Clayton police eventually stopped Weigand in the southbound lanes of Tara Boulevard and tried to place the Griffin man in handcuffs.
“As the officer got a handcuff on Weigand’s right wrist, Weigand jerked away from the officer, hitting the officer in the face with the handcuffs and then pushing the officer before getting back in his vehicle and fleeing the scene,” Ammons said.
Two Lovejoy police officers joined in the chase and followed the man south into Spalding County, authorities said. The pursuit came to an end when officers pinned Weigand’s car as he turned off U.S. 41 onto Birdie Road.
“Weigand opened the driver’s door, began exiting the vehicle, and pointed a handgun at the officers, at which time the two Lovejoy police officers fired their weapons, striking Weigand multiple times,” Ammons said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. The police shooting remains under investigation, and the GBI’s findings will be turned over to Spalding County prosecutors for review.
Saturday’s incident is the 37th police shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year and the 18th in which someone was killed, records show. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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