WNEG-TV

Share this Myspace Digg Del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Yahoo Newsvine Googlize this Facebook Hear this text Print E-mail

TOCCOA - Police are now saying that Jonathon Ayers was not the target of a drug investigation. That contradicts what WNEG was told by police on Tuesday. We've also made many attempts to talk to his family, but so far they've had no official comment.

Police say they saw Jonathan Ayers with the target of a prior drug and prostitution investigation before they approached him. Stephens Co. Sheriff Randy Shirley, said, "The target was seen meeting with the deceased and at one point getting out of the car of the deceased. They went down from a local establishment down to the Shell Station."

Shirley said that undercover officers then confronted Ayers, after he left the store. "They identified themselves as police and Mr. Ayers backed up into one of the agents, and then pulled his vehicle forward in a fast motion toward the other agent... at which time the agent fired two shots into the automobile," he said.

After the incident, GBI officials were immediately called on the scene to investigate. Agent John Bankhead said, "We want to make sure that the investigation is thorough and it takes as long as it takes to collect all the information that we know. That way the District Attorney will have as much information as he can have to make the appropriate decision."

District Attorney for Stephens Co., Brian Rickman, said, "When you've had a tragic event like we've had, people want answers immediately. We have to let these agents do their job, and not operate on just rumors and innuendo, but get to the facts of exactly what happened."

Police were unable to answer many questions at this time, and right now there's no word on how long the investigation will take.