GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Warner Robins - UPDATE

UPDATE:

Warner Robins, GA (January 22, 2021) – On Friday, January 22, 2021, the GBI charged Derik Edward Jones with three counts of Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime, Theft by Receiving, Possession of a Firearm While on First Offender Probation, Criminal Trespassing, and Entering an Automobile. Jones will be transported to the Houston County Jail after his release from the Navicent Health Hospital, where he is receiving treatment for his injuries and is in stable condition. 

Of the three officers involved, two are with the Warner Robins Police Department and one was an off-duty Crawford County Sheriff’s Office deputy, who was shopping at the Walmart.

ORIGINAL RELEASE

Warner Robins, GA (January 21, 2021) – On Thursday, January 21, 2021, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was requested by the Warner Robins Police Department to conduct an officer involved shooting investigation.  

Preliminary information indicates that at 2:01 p.m., the Warner Robins Police Department received a call in reference to a suspect in custody for shoplifting at the Walmart located at 2720 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, Georgia. Officers arrived at the Walmart at 2:11 p.m. and made contact with Walmart Loss Prevention personnel. While interviewing Loss Prevention personnel and talking to the suspect in custody for shoplifting, a citizen approached the officers and advised them that another subject was breaking into cars in the Walmart parking lot. The suspect of the shoplifting incident is not related to the breaking into vehicles. 

The citizen accompanied the officers into the parking lot and showed them the vehicle the subject had just broken into. While showing the officers the vehicle, the citizen pointed out the subject that had broken into the vehicle, who was still in the parking lot. The subject is identified as Derik Edward Jones, 27, of Winston Salem, NC. Jones has also lived in different parts of Georgia for the last year.

As officers approached Jones, he ran from the officers across the parking lot towards TJ Maxx and Bealls Outlet. When Jones and officers got in front of Bealls Outlet, several shots were fired by Jones and three officers. During the exchange of gunfire, Jones was struck. He was transported to Navicent Health in Macon, where he is being treated for his injuries. The firearm used by Jones has been identified as a firearm stolen out of a vehicle in the Walmart parking lot. Charges on Jones are pending by the GBI.

No officers were injured during this incident. The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Upon completion, it will be turned over to the Houston County District Attorney’s Office for review.