THREE INVESTIGATORS ON DESK DUTY AFTER SHOOTING

Three Richmond County narcotics officers were placed on desk duty
Wednesday after a shooting the night before that killed a man wanted
on several drug charges.

The fatal shooting of Michael Nestor, 30, is the second involving
Richmond County sheriff's officers in less than two weeks, and the
fourth in less than a year.

At a news conference Wednesday, Sheriff Ronnie Strength said
investigators Philip Hambrick, Jason Saal and Mike Swint were involved
in the shooting. He said Mr. Nestor was shot multiple times after he
tried to strike one of the officers with his car.

The sheriff did not release photos of the officers, saying he didn't
want to jeopardize any ongoing cases. According to Sheriff Strength,
the events unfolded this way:

The narcotics officers had been watching Mr. Nestor for about a month
when they arrived at his home at 1918 Ohio Ave. about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Wanted on several drug charges, including possession of
methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of methadone,
Mr. Nestor spotted the deputies as they walked toward his driveway. He
was sitting in the driver's seat of his Oldsmobile when Investigator
Saal approached from the rear and Investigators Hambrick and Swint
came to his driver-side door with weapons drawn. They ordered him out
of the car but Mr. Nestor backed toward Investigator Saal and the
officers fired.

Early indications are that Mr. Nestor was struck in the left arm and
neck, Sheriff Strength said. Mr. Nestor's car traveled about 200 feet,
where he abandoned it and collapsed in a nearby yard.

Sheriff Strength said the investigators were not wearing their
standard uniforms but did have on badges and department-issued rain
jackets. They identified themselves as officers when they approached
the car. No dash-cam video is available of the shooting because the
officers parked a short distance from Mr. Nestor's home and approached
on foot to avoid alerting the suspect.

GBI investigators were searching Mr. Nestor's car Wednesday and the
sheriff said he did not yet know whether they had found weapons or
narcotics inside. He did confirm that Mr. Nestor did not have a weapon
on himself. Sheriff Strength said he'd heard unconfirmed reports that
Mr. Nestor might have been carrying a narcotic.

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site, Mr.
Nestor served just more than a year in Dooly State Prison in Unadilla,
Ga., from August 2002 to September 2003 on methamphetamine possession
charges in Cobb and Gwinnet counties.

Mr. Nestor's fatal shooting by sheriff's deputies is the second
incident in less than a week's time.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the Nov. 12
shooting of 41-year-old Terry Ramsey. Two deputies involved in that
shooting, Sylvester Rosier and Chadwick Plueger, returned to active
duty Tuesday night.

The sheriff defended his deputies' actions and said he did not foresee
any policy changes on the use of deadly force. Two fatal shootings in
2008 were deemed justified by the GBI.

"We don't wake up in the morning saying 'let's go out and see if we
can get in a shoot-out,' " Sheriff Strength said. "Most of these guys
are not thinking about that, they're thinking about going home at the
end of the day also."

Background information and disciplinary files on the three officers
were not immediately available Wednesday but at least one of them had
been previously disciplined. Investigator Hambrick was suspended 10
days for posting a picture of himself with his department-issued Glock
handgun on his Myspace page in 2006. A fellow deputy was fired and
another suspended in that investigation.

When a reporter from The Chronicle called to find out more information
about the officers and their training, the sheriff's secretary said he
would not be taking any more calls about the shooting Wednesday afternoon.