The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has charged a Toccoa man with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer after he allegedly tried to steal a gun away from a Stephens County deputy. 36-year-old Joel Eugene Keller was shot while struggling with the deputy over the gun, the GBI says. The deputy was not hurt.
According to the initial investigation, the deputy attempted to stop a pickup truck on Yearwood Road in Toccoa around 1:17 p.m. Tuesday, February 15. The driver, who the GBI later identified as Keller, reportedly refused to stop and the deputy pursued him.
The pursuit ended on Broad River Road when the pickup truck wrecked. Keller then allegedly got out of the vehicle and approached the deputy.
“There was a struggle between the driver and deputy and during this struggle, the deputy’s gun was unholstered,” GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles says. “The deputy and the driver fought over the gun during which the deputy fired one shot, striking the driver.”
Paramedics airlifted Keller to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. The GBI says he’s in stable condition.
The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting, which is standard protocol when officers are involved. Miles says the GBI investigation is active and ongoing. More charges are expected to be filed.
Once the investigation is complete, the GBI will turn the case file over to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
This is the 14th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate in 2022.
