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2 officers shot in NE Georgia; suspect arrested

LAVONIA, Ga. — The GBI says they have arrested the man accused of shooting police officers in Lavonia, in northeast Georgia.

GBI special agent-in-charge Mike Ayers says it happened around 8 p.m. in the parking lot of a Zaxby's near Interstate 85.

Ayers says the Lavonia police officers stopped a vehicle and quickly realized it was stolen. When the officers approached the suspect, Khari Anthony Dashaun Gordon, 22, of Greenville, S.C., in an attempt to arrest him, officials said Gordon pulled out a gun and shot both officers.

Ayers says both Officer Jeffery Martin and Capt. Michael Schulman were taken to an area hospital for treatment and are expected to survive.

"We have began sort of a two-pronged investigation. One centered toward apprehending the individual responsible for the assaults and to investigate the crime that did occur," Ayers said.

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Gordon was taken into custody late Monday night and has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony.

Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach learned Gordon, from Greenville, S.C., has a long criminal history, including a previous arrest on an attempted murder charge.

The GBI said more charges are pending.

These are the seventh and eighth officers shot in Georgia in less than two months.

Early Monday morning two officers were shot while serving a warrant in Crawford County early Monday morning.

Last week, two other officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in Sumter County, and a few weeks before that, two officers were shot and killed while on patrol in Peach County.

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