GBI: Wanted Columbus man shot, killed during traffic stop

 Brent Andrew Brannon, a former Columbus resident, was wanted on eight felony charges including trafficking in heroin when he was shot and killed Wednesday morning during a traffic stop in Emerson, Ga.,

 “They were all outstanding at the time of the incident,” Police Lt. Debra Bohannon of the Metro Narcotics Task Force said of the charges on Thursday.

 The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting of Brannon, who was pulled over at 10:53 a.m. on Interstate-75 in a northbound gold SUV after Officer Robert K. Smith, 24, was alerted to a tag violation, the GBI said in a release. The officer also was alerted that Brannon, 27, was considered armed and dangerous and an escape risk.

Charges against Brannon stem from a March 25 search warrant executed at 6028 Warm Springs Court in Columbus, Bohannon said. He was the primary suspect sought at the apartment but he wasn’t home. Metro agents arrested two men and a woman and seized a variety of drugs with a street value of $27,771.

 “Numerous reliable sources indicated that he had left and gone to the Atlanta area but all of our investigative resources were exhausted in trying to locate him,” Bohannon said. The department hadn’t heard anything about Brannon until Wednesday.

 In addition to trafficking in heroin, Brannon’s outstanding charges included possession of LSD with intent to distribute, possession of MDMA, Ecstasy or “molly” with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin or “mushrooms” with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of THC, a derivative of marijuana, possession of drug related objects, use of a communication device, possession of a sawed-off rifle and a firearm during the commission of a crime.

All the charges were active on March 30, police said. Running the suspect’s name would have alerted the officer to the outstanding charges including those involving a weapon.

 Brannon became “non-compliant” before the officer’s backup could arrive, and Smith deployed his Taser but it was ineffective, according to the release.

 That’s when Brannon pointed a handgun at the officer, so the officer fired at the Columbus man and killed him, according to the release. Emerson is located about 141 miles north of Columbus.

The shooting was captured on the officer's dash cam video, the release said.

The GBI said Brannon’s body will be transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Decatur for an autopsy that’s scheduled for Friday.

 The GBI will conduct an independent investigation to determine what occurred during the incident, the report said.

 At the Columbus apartment, agents seized 2 grams of powdered cocaine, 10 stamps of LSD, 63.1 grams of psilocybin, also known as “mushrooms,” 2 pounds of marijuana, 19.9 grams of heroin, 20.2 grams of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or “molly.” Agents found $5,000 in cash, two revolvers, a sawed-off rifle and a pistol at the apartment.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 11:46 AM with the headline "GBI: Wanted Columbus man shot, killed during traffic stop."