Residents in Warm Springs, Georgia, have gathered outside the town’s police department to honour Sergeant Chris Fisher, who was shot dead while sitting in his patrol vehicle after completing an unrelated traffic stop.
Flowers, balloons and other tributes were placed outside the station as the community mourned the 36-year-old officer, remembered by colleagues and friends for his humour, friendliness and commitment to public service.
Fisher was killed at about 11.57pm on Tuesday, September 1, in the car park of the Meriwether Country Inn. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said a black Chevrolet Silverado pulled alongside his patrol car and the driver, identified as 23-year-old Jimmy Lee Steverson, fired several shots before fleeing.
Fisher was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, while investigators began a multi-agency search for Steverson.
Steverson was found the following morning in Anderson, South Carolina, where he was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by deputies at about 11.39am. Investigators said he had suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Warm Springs community remembers Chris Fisher
People who knew Fisher described him as a cheerful and approachable officer who regularly joked with those around him.
“He was always very jovial. He was always cutting jokes,” one person who knew him said. “He was always very friendly. And that’s what I remember about him most.”
Residents also spoke of the dangers faced by officers each time they report for duty, with one community member describing Fisher’s death as a senseless killing of a man who was working to support his family.
Law enforcement officers lined the road outside the GBI headquarters on Wednesday as a police escort carried Fisher away from the agency’s facility.
Fisher had joined the Warm Springs Police Department in May and was promoted to sergeant in July. He was a husband and father of two children, and had previously served with the sheriff’s offices in Meriwether, Fayette and Heard counties.
Investigators have also established that Fisher arrested Steverson days before the shooting. Court records show the 23-year-old was taken into custody on felony allegations involving marijuana possession, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
According to arrest documents obtained by local media, Steverson allegedly struck Fisher in the face while resisting arrest. He was released on a $10,000 bond the following day, with a court hearing scheduled for November.
The GBI has not said whether the earlier arrest was connected to the shooting, and the circumstances surrounding the attack remain under investigation.
The agency said several local and state law enforcement bodies assisted with the inquiry, including the Warm Springs Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Marshals Service.
Investigators have asked anyone with information to contact the GBI’s Midland Regional Investigative Office. The case file will be passed to the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office once the independent investigation is complete.
