The training coordinator for the Stephens County Sheriff's Office was arrested Wednesday for making false statements to GBI agents investigating the shooting death of a North Georgia pastor.
Lt. Edwin Wilson was interviewed by GBI agents after Billy Shane Harrison, a Stephens deputy serving with a multi-jurisdictional drug task force, was involved in the shooting death of Jonathan Ayers.
Ayers, a pastor at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, was fatally shot Sept. 1 by Harrison in Toccoa.
Wilson allegedly made false statements to investigators in regard to Harrison's training June 11, 2010, according to a press release from the GBI. Wilson told investigators that Harrison had required firearms training, but Harrison did not.
On the day of the shooting, Ayers was at a convenience store when he unknowingly met the subject of an undercover drug bust. Ayers, approached by armed undercover officers, fled in his vehicle, striking an officer, according to investigators.
The shooting was later deemed "justified" after a GBI investigation. Ayers' widow, Abigail Ayers, filed a federal lawsuit claiming Harrison was not properly trained to be a Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression officer.
Harrison still serves with the NCIS team in Toccoa, said Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley.
Wilson was booked into the Stephens County jail and later released on bond.
"I fired him (Wilson) immediately after it was revealed that he admitted to making the false statements," said Shirley. "This is just a stupid thing that he did."
** Pastor's shooting splits community.
-- AJC reporter Chelsea Cook contributed to this story.
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