$20,000 reward offered in search for accused deputy shooter

COMMERCE, Ga. – Authorities are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man accused of shooting and wounding a sheriff’s deputy in northeast Georgia.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the suspect fired multiple times at deputies Wednesday, striking one officer whose ballistic vest stopped the bullet.

Authorities say the confrontation came after reports that a vehicle was stolen at the Atlanta Dragway, about 70 miles (113 kilometres) northeast of Atlanta.

Banks County sheriff’s officials say that when their deputies tried to stop the stolen vehicle, the suspect opened fire at them and then fled across Interstate 85.

The GBI says the suspect then forced a female at gunpoint to drive him to metro Atlanta, where he released her.

The sheriff described the deputy’s injuries as not life-threatening.