TRAGEDY ON I-185

Veteran Deputy Placed On Leave; Sheriff Says 39-year-old Failed To Comply
With Order To Show Hand

An unarmed 39-year-old Columbus man was fatally shot by a Muscogee County
Sheriff's Deputy late Wednesday during a drug investigation after
authorities said the man failed to comply with the deputy's commands.

Kenneth Brown Walker, 39, was pronounced dead shortly before 2:30 a.m.
Thursday at The Medical Center of a single gunshot wound to the head,
several hours after he was stopped in a vehicle on Interstate 185. His body
was sent to the state crime lab, Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant said.

During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph
Johnson was flanked by City Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton
Fay and other sheriff's officials. Johnson called the incident "a tragic
day for the family of the deceased and for my office and for the city of
Columbus."

The deputy who shot Walker has been placed on administrative leave.
Authorities say he is a veteran deputy who works with the department's
Special Response Team. His name was not released.

Walker was among three other men riding inside a gray GMC Yukon allegedly
seen Wednesday evening leaving an Armour Road apartment complex under
surveillance for drug activity. The three friends were not arrested and
were later released. As for Walker, Johnson said authorities later learned
there was no information that he was involved in any kind of criminal activity.

Johnson said the Yukon matched the description of one provided by a
confidential drug informant.

"The information was that this vehicle -- and there is more than one gray
vehicle in Columbus, Georgia -- if this was the vehicle that the informant
said it was, that these were people from Miami and they were armed," the
sheriff said. Johnson said the Yukon also matched the description of one
that officials believed had regularly dropped off narcotics at the apartment.

When the vehicle was stopped around 9 p.m. on Interstate 185 between
Manchester Expressway and Macon Road, Johnson said all four occupants were
taken out of the vehicle.

Though Walker's friends complied with the deputy's commands to get down on
the ground and reveal their hands, there was "some resistance by Walker,"
the sheriff said.

"He was placed on the ground but his right hand couldn't be seen," Johnson
said. "That hand wouldn't come out."

Johnson said the commands given consisted of: "Get on the ground, get on
the ground, get on the ground," followed by a repeated refrain of "let me
see your hands."

"Nine times out of 10, people will comply but occasionally they don't," he
said. "This one turned out bad. I can't sugar-coat that."

When asked if he thought the shooting was justified, Johnson said he could
not answer since the investigation is ongoing.

"What I can tell you is that when he shot him, he did not try to shoot him
in the head," he said. "I can't tell you what was in his head other than
that it's a pure judgment call if he felt like his life was in danger."

In 85 percent of cases dealt with by the Metro Narcotics Task Force,
Johnson said a firearm was involved. In Wednesday night's incident, no gun
was found inside the Yukon.

Before meeting with members of the media, Johnson said he had spoken with
Walker's family.

"They're very upset and they should be," he said. "I'm very upset -- and
nothing I can say or do will change any of this."

The stop Wednesday night that ended in Walker's death was part of a lengthy
narcotics investigation that began with information initially provided to
Task Force agents by a confidential informant, Johnson said.

Related Arrests

During a separate Recorder's Court hearing Thursday afternoon, Task Force
agents outlined three arrests that resulted from the investigation.

Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, an informant placed a recorded call to a unit at
Northwoods Apartments at 5000 Armour Road, Metro Agent J. Ellerbee said.
Four ounces of crack cocaine were ordered from a man known as "Bo-Jack."

"The person said they had nothing at the time and that 'all they had was
walking out the door right now,' " Ellerbee testified. While those words
were being recorded, agents watching the apartment observed a man leaving
the unit. Agents followed as the man drove to a Popeye's restaurant on
Wynnton Road.

The driver was later identified as Michael Powell, 31. Inside the car,
agents recovered more than $6,000 worth of crack cocaine. Powell pleaded
innocent to one count of trafficking in cocaine and remained held Thursday
without bond at the Muscogee County Jail.

The informant whom agents had been dealing with also explained that the
occupants inside the apartment unit were waiting for "a supplier to
resupply" them drugs and that they would arrive in a Yukon, Johnson said.

Johnson said a gray Yukon had "later showed up at the apartment." That
Yukon was followed from the apartment and later stopped along the
interstate, with Walker and its occupants ordered out.

Around 10:50 p.m., drug agents returned to the Armour Road apartment to
execute a search warrant.

Inside apartment 3G, agents found two men, both of them convicted felons
and one wanted on outstanding warrants since 1999. Arrested on drug and gun
charges were: Thomas Randall, 33, and Darren Jackson, 32. Randall was
ordered held on more than $15,000 bond. Jackson was held without bond.

A 9 mm gun was recovered near Jackson, who was sitting near a bed, Agent J.
Memmo said. Also recovered were $2,700 worth of cocaine, a set of digital
scales, plastic baggies, and an empty gallon bag with cocaine residue
hidden inside a speaker system.