ATLANTA (AP) – A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia is “doing much better” but may lose his left eye after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop south of Atlanta, authorities said.
Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said Sunday that deputy Jamie White’s condition has improved after he was shot by the driver of a vehicle that he had pulled over. Joe Lee Garrett, 24, was arrested in Alabama just hours after the shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Thank God the bullet didn’t hit his brain,” Jolley said.
Police said Garrett turned himself in to the Phenix City Police investigator in Alabama and was transported to the Russell County Jail. He is being charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, and is currently being held as a fugitive from justice in relation to the shooting.
Jolley said Garrett will have a court hearing Monday and is expected to be transported back to Harris County. He faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, obstruction, possession of a firearm during a felony, and fleeing and attempting to elude.