How Many Police Officers Killed In 2016? Byron Police Officers Shot In Georgia While Serving Search Warrant

A shooting that took place while two officers were serving a search warrant for drugs at a home in Byron, Georgia, Monday morning resulted in one man’s death and the two officers acquiring injuries from gunshots wounds.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge J.T. Ricketson said officers James Wynn and William Patterson of the Peach County Drug Task Force entered the house through the back door after they had knocked on it three times, proclaimed their presence and got no response, according to local reports Monday. After gaining entry into the home about 20 miles west of Macon, Georgia, a man hiding inside fired at least one round of bullets at the unsuspecting officers. The two officers responded by firing back and killing the assailant.

Both officers were taken to a nearby hospital where Patterson was quickly released and Wynn stayed for surgery Monday morning. Wynn who has been on the force for four years, was expected to make a full recovery, according to local reports.

Rickets said the man who was killed was the likely subject of the search warrant the two officers had been serving. Rickets described the man as a 35-year-old white male. The man’s girlfriend and an one-month-old infant were also at the house during the fatal confrontation, but neither was harmed, Rickets said.

Americus Officer Nicholas Smarr and Jody Smith, an officer with Georgia Southwestern State University, were shot and killed Wednesday after responding to a domestic dispute call at an apartment in Americus, South Georgia, 130 miles south of Atlanta. The officers were similarly fired upon by a man while they were searching his home. Americus authorities said the suspect, 32-year-old Minquell Kennedy Lembrick, killed himself Thursday following a manhunt.

There has been a 66 percent increase in fatal police shootings in the U.S. in 2016 compared to how many there were at this same time in 2015, Al Jazeera reported Sunday. Sixty-four officers nationwide were killed while in service in 2016 while seven law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in Georgia according to local reports Monday. There hadn’t been a year where more than 50 officers were fatally shot since 2011.