Recently released video footage from sheriff’s deputies shows the moment a man apparently armed with an AK-47-style rifle opened fire at sheriff’s deputies in Carroll County, Georgia.
A Georgia State Patrol trooper tried to pull over a vehicle for traveling at speeds of 111 mph on Interstate 20 early Monday morning.
The two men in the vehicle were identified as 22-year-old Aaron Jajuan Shelton and 28-year-old Pier Alexander Shelton, who are both from Birmingham, Alabama, officials told 11Alive.
“If not for the heroic efforts of all Officers and agencies involved and to Corporal Troutt and Deputy Repetto for stopping the suspect, this incident could have resulted in more Officers being injured or killed and the suspects could have posed an even bigger threat to the public as this occurred in a residential area, and at this time of the morning, people are getting ready for work and staff is getting ready to arrive at the school,” said a statement from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office about the incident.
Aaron Jajuan Shelton was charged with five counts of aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated battery, authorities said. Pier Shelton was shot and killed by authorities.
When their vehicle was initially stopped, it sped away and a high-speed chase ensued with a state trooper. Troopers carried out a PIT maneuver before the car regained control. According to Newschannel9, the driver ultimately crashed the vehicle after going down a side road.
At one point, after the crash, dashcam footage from a sheriff’s deputy’s car shows a man—identified by the office as Pier Shelton—in the road walking toward their vehicle, armed with the rifle, which he then lifts and opens fire, injuring deputy Jay Repetto.
Deputies immediately returned fire, hitting and killing Pier Shelton, officials told Newschannel9.
Two other sheriff’s deputies were injured in the incident.
Authorities described the rifle as an “AK-47,” but they did not provide more details.
It comes as anti-police demonstrations, looting, and rioting erupted across several major U.S. cities following two police shootings over the weekend.
Rioters in Portland, Oregon, smashed windows at a number of businesses after police fatally shot a man at a nearby park. At the same time, police said that rioters were arrested for setting fires.
In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, after 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot by an officer carrying out a warrant on him, agitators tried tearing down fencing surrounding the police headquarters. Around 100 people were arrested, officials said.
Riots and looting incidents also broke out in Oakland, California, where hundreds of demonstrators allegedly assaulted an officer and at least one person, smashed windows, set a car on fire, and engaged in other acts of vandalism, authorities said. No arrests or citations were made.