iStock/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) — A Georgia sheriff’s deputy is thankful for his life after exchanging fire with a suspect while on a welfare call at a private residence in rural Troup County.
The officer’s dashcam captured dramatic video of the shootout, which took place on Monday.
Deputy Michael Hockett was dispatched to the residence to check on an individual whose father called police to report a mental health episode, ABC affiliate WSB-TV reported.
In the video, Hockett is heard yelling at the suspect, “Drop the gun now!”
Moments later he’s seen running away as the armed suspect chases him. Hockett jumps a fence and the suspect begins firing at him.
Hockett returns fire, hitting the suspect in the shoulder. Hockett was also hit in his forehead, elbow and waist by pellets from a shotgun blast during the shootout.
The suspect, identified as Matthew Edmondson, then engaged several local and state law enforcement agencies in a standoff that lasted more than six hours.
“I’m thankful that the Lord seen me through it. I’ve replayed it in my head and I know in my heart that I did everything I could to do the best I could with the situation I’d been placed in,” Hockett told WSB-TV.
Edmondson’s mother witnessed part of the shootout and frantically called 911.
“I need an ambulance. Please hurry. My son’s been shot,” she said. “There was a deputy here we had just came in. and I don’t know if the deputy was shot or not. I don’t know what’s going on but I’m scared to death.”
Edmondson eventually surrendered and is now facing several charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
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