Suspect shot in back when running from police in Athens

By Joe Johnson

An armed robbery suspect was running from police when he was shot in the back, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Javious Mattox was shot twice by Sgt. Jason Kimano of the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, according to the affidavit which had been filed by the agent in support of a warrant to obtain Mattox’s hospital records.

The shooting occurred in January after a police pursuit of a car occupied by Mattox and his accomplice in the armed robbery of a cellphone store on North Avenue.

The pursuit terminated when the getaway car spun out in a field at Newton Bridge and Commerce roads.

Both suspects were seen on police bodycam footage to be in possession of guns when they exited the car, according to the affidavit, and they then ran through a small woodline and jumped a fence into someone’s yard.

“One of the pursuing officers, CCSO Sergeant Jason Kimano, discharged his service weapon twice. Both shots struck Mattox, resulting in a gunshot wound to Mattox’s left buttock and a through and through gunshot wound to Mattox’s upper right back, exciting in his upper right chest,”‘ according to the agent’s affidavit.

When interviewed by the agent in the hospital, Mattox denied pointing his gun at the law enforcement officers who were chasing him.

Mattox said he had grabbed the gun from under the driver’s seat and was holding it while running and tried putting it into his pocket when he came to the fence.

“When Mattox jumped the fence he dropped his phone and his gun. Mattox stated that he picked both items up, took a few more steps, and was then shot,” the agent stated in his affidavit

Mattox suffered a collapsed lung from being shot but he was deemed well enough to be transferred to the jail one week later.

Javious Mattox