Police shoot machete-wielding man in Jackson County

Photo contributed by the Commerce Police Department

By Joe Johnson

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said it is looking into an officer- involved shooting in the Jackson County city of Commerce late Monday afternoon.

The Commerce Police Department asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation of the incident in which a civilian was shot and injured by officers.

According to the GBI, the preliminary information indicates that at about 5:15 p.m., officers received a 911 call about a domestic incident near the 5700 block of Mt. Olive Road, in Commerce.

,l When officers arrived at the scene a man reportedly was swinging a machete-type weapon around.

Officers gave verbal commands for him to put the weapon down and he refused.  Officers fired their weapons and hit the man, the GBI said, and then rendered aid, and the man was later taken

Photos contributed by the Commerce Police Department

to a Gainesville hospital.  

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

The incident is the 51st officer-involved shooting the GBI has been requested to investigate in 2023.