LITHIA SPRINGS, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating a deputy-involved shooting in Douglas County. A woman was killed and a deputy was shot in the leg, according to the GBI.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department requested the GBI to Mountain Motorsports off Thornton Road in Lithia Springs.
The shooting started when deputies were responding to an attempted robbery call around 7:45 p.m.
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Deputies said they encountered an armed woman, identified as Shelby Jean Berkheimer, 41, of Lithia Springs.
The GBI said the deputy told Berkheimer to drop the weapon several times, which then led to a physical struggle. Berkheimer shot the deputy in the leg, resulting in non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
During the incident, the deputy fired his weapon, hitting Berkheimer, GBI said. She died at the scene.
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Channel 2′s Tom Jones spoke with several witnesses who saw the chaos Tuesday night.
“I’ve never seen this from a woman before,” said a barber who didn’t want to be identified. “When I heard that I was like wow, she didn’t care about her life.”
The barber told Jones that he noticed a deputy conducting a traffic stop Tuesday night. He later saw loads of officers arrive at the store.
Kenna Smith heard the shots.
“I’m like what the heck is going on. I was outside smoking a cigarette minding my business and I heard that. I was like wow,” she said.
The barber was happy to hear the deputy survived.
“They rushed him off immediately.”
Jones went by Berkheimer’s home to see if anyone wanted to comment. Two people answered and said they had no comment at this time.
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