Sheriff confident deputies followed protocol in Circle K robbery turned shooting

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – An armed robbery suspect is now a deceased victim after attempting to flee the scene of a crime he committed.

With the suspect now dead and two officers on paid leave, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has called in the GBI to do an officer force investigation.

“We have a witness that had some indication that Mr. Terry had fired some shots behind the store that’s all being investigated,” said Sheriff David Davis.

The suspect, Shamir Terry,39, was killed by Deputy Christopher Williams and Deputy Christopher R. Scuderi after firing shots at them outside of a Circle K he had just tried to rob.

“For a deputy to walk behind someone that he knows is armed and is trying to get this person to give up to the point of even deploying his taser, and then at the final moment when the person points a weapon at them in a menacing manner they have to take action,” Davis said at a news conference on Monday.

Terry–who had warrants in multiple counties out for his arrest–was rushed to the hospital but later died there.

“Nobody wants to take a life. None of us, no deputy, no law enforcement person goes to work thinking that they’re going to take a life and you do everything that you can not to have that happen. But your training and your mindset kick in and you do what you have to do with the circumstance you’re presented, ” Davis continued.

With a pending investigation of officer force in motion, Sheriff he says he believes the two deputies followed proper protocol.

“You never know what an investigation reveals, but from what we’ve seen of the evidence so far and talked to witnesses and just the circumstances that presented themselves, the deputy’s had to do what the deputy’s had to do,” he said.

The outside investigation conducted by the GBI is just standard procedure. Right now the GBI is waiting on the sheriff’s office to send over body cam footage from the two officers, dash cam video and surveillance video of the Circle K to continue reviewing what happened.

The two officers will remain on paid leave until the investigation is complete.

In addition to the GBI investigation, the sheriff’s office is conducting its own internal investigation of whether the officers followed protocol as well as an investigation into the armed robbery.