Local & State Headlines

Police close in on second officer shooting suspect

• A wounded Tifton Police officer may not have sustained any long-term injuries.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — GBI officials say they’re close to nabbing a second suspect in a weekend shooting that nearly cost one of Tifton’s finest his life.

Officer Eddie Bailey was shot in the neck after stumbling onto what police officials believe was an attempted armed robbery in the parking lot of a store on South Central Avenue, Tifton Police Chief Jim Smith said.

While Smith was leery of discussing any aspect of the case out of respect for the GBI, which is conducting the investigation, he did say that Bailey is doing well and could leave Tift Regional Medical Center as soon as today.

“He’s doing pretty good,” Smith said. “In fact, we hear he may be able to come home tomorrow.”

Smith said Bailey was shot through the passenger window while responding to a call Saturday night.

Germaine Akins, 25, has been charged in connection with the shooting, and police believe there is at least one other suspect yet to be arrested.

GBI Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Lewis said that agents were close to arresting a second suspect, which could happen any day.

Smith called the shooting “troubling,” not only because of the brazenness of the crime, but because Bailey — who routinely patrolled that part of the city — probably knew the people trying to kill him.

“He knows a lot of people, and I bet he probably knew the people who did this to him,” Smith said. “It’s bad enough that people will try and rob you, but it’s downright troubling that someone would take a shot at a cop.”

Bailey’s shooting is the second police-related shooting in less than a month for the Tifton police force.

On April 7, Officer Dorminey McCrae shot Craig Plymel, a man who had attempted to rob the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and took a clerk hostage, sending him to the hospital.

McCrae was cleared of any wrongdoing by the GBI, and Plymel is reportedly recovering at a Macon hospital, Smith said.

Smith, a longtime police veteran, said the area’s recent violent streak has left him scratching his head.

“I don’t know what’s behind it,” he said. “It’s been just a really crazy month. I don’t know if it’s because of the moon, the rising temperatures or just meanness or some mixture of it all, but April has been a rough month.”

Smith said that doctors don’t believe Bailey sustained any long-term damage and that he should be able to return to work as soon as he heals.

More Headlines>>