Man shot, killed during high-speed chase in Coweta County identified

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A dangerous, high-speed chase with speeds exceeding 120 mph at times, ended in deadly gunfire and the driver of a Corvette killed in Coweta County on Friday afternoon.

Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood says the driver of the Corvette, now identified as 27-year-old Anthony Richard Fields II, pulled up behind the deputy along Interstate 85 around 2:20 p.m., revved his engine a few times before passing the deputy. The deputy gave chase to the Bullsboro Drive exit, where the driver pulled off the interstate.

Newnan police officers were called to assist in the chase.

A video shared with FOX 5 shows the white Corvette stopped in the concrete gore at the intersection of Herring Road and Bullsboro Drive surrounded by two officers with their guns drawn. The driver appears to not comply with the officers, backing up and speeding away north of Herring Road. The Newnan police officers soon follow in an SUV.

"He went into the subdivision, when he came back out, he hit one of our other deputies head-on, that deputy was injured slightly," the sheriff said.

The deputy, who was injured in the crash, is expected to be released from the hospital Friday evening with only minor injuries.

The chase, which continued in triple-digit speeds, ended in the area of Herring Road and Palomino Drive when the driver got out of the car.

"K-9 was deployed and when the man got out of the car, with the K-9, he pulled out a weapon and he was shot," the sheriff said, adding the driver was raising his arm with the weapon at the time. Fields was shot multiple times and died at the scene. 

It was not immediately known who all fired during the scuffle, but the K-9, who was on the driver’s arm at the time, was injured. Sheriff Wood says the injury was clean and the K-9 deputy is expected to recover.

Sheriff Wood says the driver of the Corvette would have been cited for speeding and a tint violation if he had pulled over. The sheriff asks to pray for the families all those involved.

"Families don’t ask for it, and it’s sad," the sheriff said.

SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene around 4 p.m. to find multiple evidence markers where a shell casing landed.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate the incident.

According to the GBI'S website, this is the 65th officer-involved shooting this year the agency has been requested to investigate. In the same time period last year, there had been 79.