ATLANTA _ A Georgia State Patrol trooper was fired and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault following a deadly shooting last week.
On Friday, the Georgia Department of Public Safety announced the termination of Jacob G. Thompson for the shooting that killed 60-year-old Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis last Friday in Screven County. Simultaneously, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Thompson, 27, faces the two felony charges.
The DPS said he was fired due to his "negligence or inefficiency in performing assigned duties; or commission of a felony," according to a news release.
The shooting took place after Thompson attempted to stop a Nissan Sentra for a traffic-related offense on Stoney Pond Road in Screven County, which is about 60 miles north of Savannah on the border with South Carolina, AJC.com previously reported.
After a brief chase down several county roads, the trooper initiated a PIT maneuver, and the car came to a stop in a ditch, the GBI said. The trooper fired one round, fatally striking Lewis.
The GBI was requested that day to investigate the officer-involved shooting _ the fourth that took place within a 24-hour period. The agency has opened 59 such investigations this year.
Thompson, who was hired as a state trooper in July 2013, will be booked into the Screven County Jail, the GBI said.
The agency did not release more information on the charges, including an explanation about why the trooper fired, but a news release said, "The investigation supports the charges and is active and ongoing."
