BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. — Allegations of a cover-up come from a former officer who is now charged with lying about how she was shot.
An eight-page letter from a now former police officer sent to Channel 2 Action News describes the moment she says a man shot her. She wrote about the prayer she said and claims of a cover-up.
But investigators say it's all a lie.
Former Jackson Police Officer Sherry Hall wrote the letter to Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne to explain her side of the story.
Little was heard from Hall in court several days ago, but she had a lot in the letter.
"First and foremost, I am innocent of all charges and allegations. This is nothing more than a cover up in a small town,” Hall wrote.
Her claims stand in stark contrast to what authorities have said.
“The investigation has revealed that there is no, and never was, a suspect shooter at large in Jackson, Georgia,” said Joe Wooten with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
"I couldn't understand why and how after being shot, I was (accused) of either shooting myself or protecting someone that shot me," Hall said in the letter.
Hall seems to suggest motive for the picture painted to the public so far is “so the community feels safe and at rest."
"There was a .40 caliber gun found in the woods on the crime scene that has disappeared (and) was not tested," Hall said.
The GBI told Winne that additional evidence is in testing but the gun matching a crucial shell found at the scene was not in the woods but in Hall's nightstand at home.
The GBI also said there's no cover-up. Authorities have been open about Hall's case because it involves the public trust.
“Evidence that we have seen that is taken from a video and audio recording there is no other person,” said Butts County District Attorney Richard Milam.
"I was shot by a man whose gun sounded like a fizzled out firecracker. From day one I have suffered horrible symptoms of PTSD. I continue to ask for counseling,” Hall said. "There are no words to describe the way I felt when I realized this man was a threat, calling for backup, getting shot as I am backing way, feeling that blunt force, the intense pain."
The letter also suggests her rights were violated when she didn’t get a reasonable bond.
"As I am trying to get to cover and returning fire to stop him from hurting someone else," Hall said., "I could hardly get the words out 'I'm shot' to dispatch. I believed I was about to die."
The letter suggests a forensic artist sketch looked almost identical to the man that shot her.
“The man who shot me did not look like or resemble anyone I have seen in our community before,” Hall said in the letter.
The letter also had a lot to say about her GBI interviews, suggesting at one point: "I began to struggle with harsh flashbacks that were almost rendering me speechless."