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Deputy cleared in shooting death
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Deputy cleared
in shooting death
A Clinch County deputy is back at work after being cleared in the shooting death of a local man.
Clinch County Sheriff Winston Peterson said veteran Deputy Lamar Lankford has returned to work after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found no fault in the April 30 shooting of Vernon McCoy Mathis, 59, of Clinch County. Peterson said the GBI released the findings of their probe to Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney Dick Perryman, who, based on those findings, is not pursuing any case against Lankford.
According to Peterson, the department received a call Tuesday evening, April 30, that a man wielding a machete was threatening church-goers coming out of a revival service at Camp Creek Missionary Baptist Church, in the northwest part of Clinch County, on Highway 168. Lankford, who was at his home nearby, was called to investigate.
Peterson said that Lankford went to the church, but Mathis was no longer there. Lankford then went to Mathis' residence on Tomlinson Road nearby. When Deputy Stanley Stalvey arrived on the scene, Peterson said Mathis busted out Stalvey's patrol car's window and headlight. Stalvey attempted to use a taser on Mathis to no effect, Peterson said. When Mathis continued threatening Stalvey, Lankford fired on Mathis, according to Peterson.
Funeral services for Mathis were held May 4. Lankford was placed on administrative pending the results of the GBI probe.
In other law enforcement news, a sweep by several local agencies Thursday produced an arrest.
Christopher Johnson, 47, of 144 Washington Circle, after a search warrant was issued for his residence. According to Clinch County Sheriff's Department Investigator Tom Bisdorf, officials confiscated over a pound of marijuana, prescription pills, firearms, and crack cocaine from the residence. Johnson was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana, possession of crack cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
Bisdorf said officers from the Sheriff's Department, Homerville Police Department, Department of Corrections K-9 Unit, DNR, and GBI participated in the arrest. Bisdorf said search warrants were also served on two other local residences, but no other arrests were made.
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