GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Grovetown, GA

Grovetown, Columbia County, GA (September 1, 2026) - At the request of the Grovetown Police Department (GPD), GBI agents are investigating an officer involved shooting in Grovetown, GA. Alexes Thorpe, age 33, of Grovetown, GA, was shot and killed in the incident. No officers were injured.

Preliminary information indicates that at about 1:38 p.m. on August 31, 2026, a GPD investigator was stopped at the intersection of Katherine Street and Robinson Avenue in Grovetown when a man, later identified as Thorpe, approached the driver’s window of the investigator’s SUV. Thorpe began hitting the window and yelling at the investigator. After opening the door and giving verbal commands for Thorpe to step back from the SUV, the investigator noticed that Thorpe was armed with a knife. The investigator then drew their gun and ordered Thorpe to drop the knife. Thorpe refused and lunged into the door of the SUV toward the investigator. The investigator then shot at Thorpe, hitting him twice. Additional officers arrived on scene shortly after the shooting and began life-saving measures. EMS later arrived and continued medical aid. Thorpe was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Thorpe’s body will be taken to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy will be conducted.

This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Thomson at (706) 595-2575. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling the GBI Tipline at 800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile application.

The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Columbia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.