JASPER, Ga. (AP) - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reviewing a shooting in which a sheriff’s deputy wounded a man who was holding a replica pistol during a welfare check.
The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a Jasper home Monday afternoon to check on a man who a caller reported was having suicidal thoughts, according to a news release from the state agency.
Deputies encountered Chris Childers, 46, who was allegedly armed with a weapon, the agency said. He dropped the weapon following orders from law enforcement, but later retrieved it, authorities said.
A deputy shot Childers when he picked up the gun, officials said. Childers was taken to a hospital but his condition was not released.
Investigators later determined the weapon was a BB pistol replica gun. The agency said Childers had “expressed a desire to die at the hands of law enforcement.”
The findings of the investigation were set to be turned over to the Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney.
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