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GBI Probes Cobb County Police Encounter After Tasered Man Dies

The state will forward its use-of-force findings to the Cobb County district attorney for review.

Overview

  • Officers responding around 6:10 p.m. to a reported hit-and-run found 47-year-old Timothy Lyle Sheats walking in the roadway.
  • Police say Sheats claimed he had been shot, showed no visible injuries, and refused to get into a patrol car.
  • According to the GBI, an officer used a Taser to stop Sheats from entering traffic after he tried to get into a passing vehicle.
  • Backup officers restrained Sheats, who became unresponsive shortly afterward, and he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
  • The GBI opened a use-of-force investigation to be sent to the Cobb County district attorney; no officers were reported injured and those involved have not been identified.