Officer dies after car in traffic stop drags him, Georgia cops say. ‘Losing you hurts’
A Georgia police officer has died after a car dragged him while on duty, officials said.
The suspect was also shot and killed during the encounter near Hickory Road in Holly Springs, roughly 35 miles north of Atlanta, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday on Twitter.
Officials have released few details but said the officer and the driver died after a speeding-related traffic stop at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to video of a news conference streamed by WXIA and other news outlets. At some point, the officer fired at the suspect, Nelly Miles of the GBI said.
On Thursday morning, investigators said the officer — identified by news outlets as Holly Springs Police Officer Joe Burson — had died. Throughout the day, tributes poured in from colleagues in law enforcement.
“Joe, I know that we will see you again in the resurrection and I am thankful to God for that,” Facebook user John Melvin said in a Facebook post. “Right now though, we miss you and losing you hurts. It really hurts.”
Burson, 25, joined the force in March 2020 after finishing law enforcement training. Chief Tommy Keheley said the officer is going to be missed.
“If you had the ability to clone a police officer, you would have wanted your officer to be Joe Burson,” the chief said during the news conference Thursday.
The nonprofit Georgia Law Enforcement Organization wrote: “Our thoughts go out to his family, and his work family at the City of Holly Springs.”
Officials identified the suspect as Ansy Dolce, 29, of Cherokee County. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the case.
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Officer dies after car in traffic stop drags him, Georgia cops say. ‘Losing you hurts’."
