Winterville Officer-Involved Shooting Investigated by GBI After Traffic Stop

MADISON COUNTY, Georgia – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into a Winterville officer-involved shooting that began as a traffic stop Sunday morning and ended with a crash in Madison County. No one was hurt by gunfire, the GBI said.

Winterville police asked the GBI to investigate. According to the agency, a man and a woman suffered minor injuries in the crash that followed the shooting.

What investigators say happened

Preliminary information shows an Athens-Clarke County police officer stopped a black SUV at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, November 1, in the 100 block of Oakmont Court in Winterville. The officer made the stop because of multiple outstanding arrest warrants in Athens-Clarke County for the driver, 33-year-old Derrell Dukes of Athens.

Two passengers rode with Dukes: 28-year-old Peyton Ragland of Summerville and another woman.

A Winterville police officer arrived shortly after Dukes stopped to help the Athens-Clarke officer. Ragland got out of the rear passenger side right after the stop started, the GBI said.

One of the officers then ordered Dukes to get out of the driver’s side. Dukes opened his door, closed it abruptly and drove away, according to the GBI. The other woman followed the officers’ commands and stayed in the front passenger seat until Dukes left.

As the SUV pulled away, one of the officers fired a single shot toward it. Dukes kept driving, and a pursuit followed.

Crash in Hull

The SUV crashed in the 3000 block of Spratlin Mill Road in Hull, in Madison County. Dukes and the woman in the SUV went to a local hospital with minor injuries from the crash. Both were later released.

Dukes and Ragland were booked into the Clarke County Jail on outstanding arrest warrants unrelated to the shooting, the GBI said.

Investigation continues

The GBI is conducting an independent investigation, which remains active. When it ends, agents will give the case file to the Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.

Anyone with information can call the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Athens at 706-542-7901. Tips can also go to the GBI Tipline at 800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or through the See Something, Send Something mobile app. Anonymous tips are accepted.