Deadly Officer involved Shooting in Pickens

Hinton, GA. is a fairly quite area of Pickens County. Lots of land to farm and hunt. Well last night two hunters on Carver Mill Rd. were raccoon hunting around 8:00 pm when their dogs tree’d a raccoon. A close by resident identified as John Harley Turner took notice and began a domestic dispute with unidentified hunters. The two gentlemen tried to defuse the situation by telling Mr. Turner they had permission and by all counts had hunted that same spot for years, but Mr. Turner decided to threaten the two men instead. The two men called 911.

The Pickens County Sheriffs Office (PCSO) was called around that time and Dep. Gary Holloway took the call and arrived to an armed, bitter and unruly Mr. Turner around 8:30 pm. Sgt. Travis Curran and Dep. Todd Musgrave were called in as back-up. The situation turned worse as Mr. Turner started yelling threats at the PCSO and refused repeated attempts by the officers to put his firearm down. Accounts at this time say Mr. Turner opened fire on the officers first and that Sgt. Curran tried to subdue Mr. Turner with two non-lethal rounds (Beanbag’s) fired from a shotgun. Mr. Turner then started returning more shots at the officers.

Around 9:00 pm the Georgia State Patrol was called in for assistance. Post Commander Tim Nichols stated that the two officers that responded were on paid administrative leave as a policy of any officer involved shooting. Neither GSP officers were injuried and unclear at this time about the officers total involvement.

The exchange of fire between the two parties was heavy based on the crime scene  photo’s shown here. Two officers were injured in the exchange; Sgt. Curran suffered a shot to the elbow area and Dep. Musgrave was shot in the back area. Both officers were wearing their vests at the time. Sheriff Donald Craig said during the press conference that the vest saved the two officers lives. They were both treated at a local hospital and released. Suspect John Turner was fatally shot during the exchange.

This is the second officer involved shooting in less than a year, but the first were a officer was shot, Sheriff Craig stated.

Press Conference Link

Crime Scene Link