CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, or GBI, is leading the case after two officers were shot while serving a search warrant in Fort Valley, Crawford County.
Byron Police Officer James Winn is recovering from surgery. His fellow officer, William Patterson, was treated and released.
Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon told Channel 2’s Liz Artz that Winn is expected to make a full recovery.
“I heard like nine shots go off, all at once, from a gun. Scared me to death," witness Mark Willet told Artz.
He said he heard the gun fire just after 2 a.m. Monday; the sounds were coming from his neighbor’s house off Highway 42.
“It sounded like a police revolver," Willet said.
Crawford Co DA talks about investigation into officer involved shooting. 2 Byron Officers shot serving warrant. Updates at noon @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/UVwCZBrJDV
— Liz Artz Hayes (@LizArtzWSB) December 12, 2016
GBI investigators were called to the scene after Wynn was shot and Patterson was injured while trying to serve a search warrant with six other officers from a drug task force.
The GBI said the man inside the house was killed by police during return fire.
Agent T.J. Ricketts said a woman and 1-month-old in the home were not injured.
“It's just crazy. You never know what’s going on in your front yard," Ricketts told Artz.
David Cooke, the district attorney for the Macon Judicial Circuit, was also on scene.
He would not elaborate about the drug warrant, but told Artz the man who was fatally shot was known to the courts.
Byron Police confirm Officers shot: James Wynn, still in surgery and William Patterson has been discharged. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/6fIOExbGqp
— Liz Artz Hayes (@LizArtzWSB) December 12, 2016
We know who he is, I'll put it that way. Obviously, they had to know something about him to effectuate the search warrant," Cooke said.
Willett told Artz he's lived in the neighborhood 15 years and never noticed anything unusual about the house.
“You didn't see a bunch of cars or any of those telltale signs of a drug house?” Artz asked Willett.
“No, not as much as you would expect. Usually quiet over there," Willett said.
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A childhood friend of the suspect has questions about what happened and wonders if the suspect thought police were actually burglars.
“Really, what I'm looking at is to make sure no laws were violated, that's my job as DA, that they followed the law executing a search warrant and in the course of shooting," Cooke said.
The SWAT commander who responded to the scene Monday also helped close in on the suspected cop killer in Americus last week.
Cox Media Group
