MACON, Ga. — The GBI has released more information about what led up to deputies fatally shooting a man Wednesday night.
According to a news release, it started when a Georgia Department of Transportation CHAMPS operator was checking on a driver parked in the emergency lane of I-75N between the Riverside Drive and Bass Road exits.
The GBI says the person in the car didn’t respond to the CHAMPS operator, so they called the sheriff’s office for help.
Bibb deputies and Georgia State Patrol got to the scene and saw the driver had a gun. The GBI says the driver shot his gun several times inside his car and officers took cover.
The driver then got out of his car and pointed his gun at officers, at which time officers shot at him. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Luann Stone just before 7:30 p.m. and he was identified Thursday as 63-year-old Steven Finfrock from Titusville, Fla.
Coroner Leon Jones says he died from multiple gunshot wounds and that he was a disabled veteran.
He also had a small dog that apparently died during the shooting, according to the coroner.
The GBI will do an independent investigation, which is standard procedure, and the results will be turned over to the Macon District Attorney’s office for review.
According to the GBI's data, they investigated 13 officer-involved shootings by the end of Feb. 2021.
Wednesday night's situation brings the total up to 18; five more than this time last year.