GBI investigates fatal deputy-involved shooting in Paulding County

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reviewing an officer-involved shooting that claimed the life of a Paulding County father.

According to the Paulding County Sheriff's Office, deputies went to a home on Township Drive around 3:20 p.m. Thursday to serve arrests warrants on Brandon Lee Bohanan, 35, and a woman inside the house.

Deputies said the homeowner allowed them inside and they searched the upstairs before discovering that Bohanan and the woman had barricaded themselves inside the basement.

Officers used a battering ram to breach the basement door and order the two to the ground. The woman, whose name has not been released, reportedly complied, but Bohanan refused.

"He approached the deputies in an aggressive manner," said Sgt. Ashley Henson, with the Paulding County Sheriff's Office. "The basement was a very dark setting from what I understand and [he] just did not comply with their commands to stop and get on the ground and at that point, one of our deputies fired one round striking the individual."

Bohanan did not survive.

"It's just an unfortunate, tragic situation. We hate that it ended this way, but the GBI is here as a third party who's impartial and they're going to look into this and make sure everything was done correctly and we'll investigate it properly," said Sgt. Henson.

Bohanan was wanted on probation violations out of both Paulding and Gwinnett counties.

Family members said Bohanan had run into some trouble with the law, but they did not believe he should have been shot. He leaves behind three children.

"Brandon was kind and loving and he had God in his heart. He was beautiful to look at. He was Godly," said his mother, Renee Taylor.  "They know they did wrong. They're going to cover their backs as much as they can. Y'all please don't let this go. Don't let Brandon die in vain. Please."

No other injuries were reported.