Georgia deputy goes to perform welfare check, gets shot in forehead

A Troup County deputy was shot multiple times while conducting a welfare check on a man, according to WSB-TV.

Deputy Michael Hockett, who went to a home on Jackson Street in LaGrange to perform the check, was hit in the forehead, elbow and waist by pellets from a shotgun before returning fire at the gunman, who has been identified as Matthew Edmonson. The deputy is expected to be OK, said the news station.

“When the deputy arrived, he exited his vehicle to go around a fence toward the house and heard what he described as a banging sound,” Troup County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Stewart Smith told WSB. Edmonson then fired shots at Hockett when he went to investigate.

“The deputy then retreated, at which time the individual got into a truck and began driving toward the deputy,” Smith told the station. Smith said Edmonson then got out of the car, fired shots at Hockett and the two exchanged gunfire.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/state/article125474129.html