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Tifton police officer shot

Joshua Brown

TIFTON — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has made one arrest and is looking for another suspect in the Saturday-evening shooting of a Tifton Police officer.

Mark Pro, GBI-Sylvester Assistant Special Agent in Charge, said Tifton Police officer Eddie Bailey was on routine patrol between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday when he came upon two men attempting an armed robbery.

Pro did not have further details on the shooting because he was out of the office Monday.

As he approached the men in his patrol car, one of the men opened fire, striking Bailey in the neck. Pro declined to say what caliber the weapon was, citing the investigation’s active status, but did say it was a pistol.

Germaine Akins, 25, has been arrested in connection with the shooting, Pro said. Akins had not been charged with anything and was being held for warrants as of Monday afternoon, said David Haire, a spokesman for the Tift County Sheriff’s Office, which keeps records of all the jail’s inmates.

Bailey was in good condition at Tift Regional Medical Center, a spokesman said Monday afternoon.

Investigators were able to arrest Akins in connection with the incident because the officer identified him as one of the two men, Pro said.

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