Suspect in Fatal Shooting of Georgia Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested After Trying to Flee in Patrol Car

Suspect in Fatal Shooting of Georgia Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested After Trying to Flee in Patrol Car
Police tape in a stock photo. (Carl Ballou/Shutterstock)
The Associated Press
7/6/2023
Updated:
7/6/2023
0:00

CORDELE, Ga.—A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia was shot and killed Wednesday and the suspect tried to flee in the deputy’s patrol car, authorities said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said it is investigating the shooting, which left 26-year-old Deputy Tyee Browne dead. The suspect, 25-year-old Croshawn Cross, was charged with murder and other crimes.

“A Crisp County sheriff’s deputy met evil as he patrolled the streets of Crisp County,” Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video posted on Facebook.

The deputy went to check on a vehicle in the middle of a road in Cordele, about 140 miles south of Atlanta, around 3:40 a.m., according to a news release from the GBI. The vehicle had been reported stolen, and when Mr. Browne exited his own vehicle to investigate, he was shot and injured by Cross, of Unadilla, the release says.

Deputies fired at Cross, who took Browne’s patrol car and fled, leading law enforcement on a chase through multiple counties before deputies from the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office and the Monroe County Sheriff’s office arrested him on Interstate 475 and recovered the stolen patrol car, the release says.

Mr. Browne was taken to Crisp Regional Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The charges against Mr. Cross include malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, theft, carjacking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges.