Ga. Deputy Kills Man Who Fired Shotgun At Police: GBI

PIKE COUNTY, GA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating a deputy-involved shooting reported Wednesday afternoon in middle Georgia. The agency was requested to investigate the shooting by the Pike County Sheriff's Office.

The GBI's preliminary investigation reveals Pike sheriff's deputies were dispatched around 2:28 p.m. April 4 to the 3100 block of Roberts Quarters Road after receiving a call of a person allegedly pointing a firearm at another individual. Pike County is about 60 miles south of Atlanta.

Those deputies arrived and made contact with 70-year-old Grady Parks, who "was armed with a shotgun and a Derringer style over-under handgun," the GBI said.

Parks was reportedly chasing the person who called 9-1-1. Pike deputies told the subject to drop his weapons, but the GBI said he did not comply. One deputy used a Taser to take control of the situation, but that did not work.

A brief struggle followed between Parks and one of the deputies, and the subject allegedly raised his shotgun towards the other deputies and fired. The shotgun blast missed the deputy, who simultaneously fired his service weapon and hit Parks twice. No officers were injured in the incident.

Parks was transported to Spalding Regional Hospital in Griffin where he later died. An autopsy will be performed at the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur. The GBI will continue its independent investigation. Once completed, the case will be turned over to the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.

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