Columbus officers charged with assault, battery seek immunity after shooting
Two Columbus cops charged in a 2024 police shooting on Manchester Expressway are arguing they should be immune from prosecution.
Court records show that Xavier Perez and Kenneth Rammage, the officers charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery in the shooting of Jermaine Hernandez on the morning of Feb. 7, 2024, both requested immunity in court filings early last month. Their arguments won’t be heard until August.
“Off. Perez’s actions were justified under Georgia law and, therefore, Off. Perez is entitled to immunity from prosecution,” lawyer David Helmick wrote in the immunity motion filed for Perez, his client.
Perez’s immunity motion claims the vehicle Hernandez was driving made a “gunfire sound.” Perez believed he was under fire and responded by firing his gun, according to the motion.
A news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in February 2024 said the car reportedly backfired during a traffic stop, causing a loud noise that sounded like gunfire. GBI said at the time that the officers conducted the traffic stop on the car after it was seen going 100 mph in a construction zone.
Hernandez previously told reporters he was shot in the finger during the incident.
Asked for further comment Friday, Helmick said Perez responded to the incident “in accordance with his training.”
“He responded reasonably based on what he knew at the time, in this rapidly evolving situation,” Helmick said in an email. “The actions of officers in these dangerous situations must be viewed from what they know and what they observe in real-time. Their actions cannot be judged in hindsight, from second guessing well after the threat has ended.”
Rammage’s motion for immunity, filed by his lawyer James Dahlquist, says he was on patrol with Perez when they conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Hernandez was driving.
The motion says Rammage “1) saw the alleged victim moving as if to exit his vehicle, 2) saw Officer Perez suddenly move as if to seek cover from the alleged victim’s actions, and 3) heard sounds consistent with gunfire.”
Rammage “reasonably believed that his use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm was necessary to prevent a forcible felony or prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or Officer Perez in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21(a),” the motion said.
The motion said Rammage had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground.
The immunity hearing for both Rammage and Perez is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Aug. 18 before Judge Bobby Peters, according to court documents.
Dahlquist didn’t respond to request for further comment prior to publication.
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM.