(WYFF TV) STEPHENS COUNTY, Ga. — A pastor was shot and killed following a drug sting in Stephens County, Ga., on Tuesday, and the officers involved and friends of the pastor are giving different versions of what led up to the shooting.
The Stephens County coroner confirmed that 28-year-old Jonathan Ayers was pronounced dead at Stephens County Hospital on Tuesday.
Shoot first, apologize to pregnant widow later... (photo from Jonathan Ayers's blog, click to read)
Ayers, a father-to-be, was the pastor of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. He maintained a personal blog linked off the church’s Web page, jonathanayers.blogspot.com.
Sheriff Randy Shirley said that officers had been involved in an undercover drug sting at an unnamed establishment in Toccoa. He said the target of the sting was a passenger in Ayers’ car. Shirley said Ayers dropped the woman off and went to the Shell station. He said the officers followed Ayers there.
Shirley said, outside the Shell station, the plain-clothes officers identified themselves with a badge. The officers said that Ayers put his car in reverse and struck an agent. They said they opened fire on Ayers when he drove toward the second officer. Two shots were fired in the car, one hit Ayers. The officers said Ayers sped away and crashed about a half mile from the Shell station. They said they found him conscious and alert, but he died a short time later.
The woman who was the subject of the drug sting was arrested, but police are not identifying her yet. She is charged with selling cocaine. Other charges against her are pending.
Investigators said they did not find drugs in Ayers’ car.
Just how dangerous must this woman have been to have three undercover plainclothes officers firing bullets around a public gas station? Apparently dangerous enough to risk hitting a gas pump and causing a huge explosion that could’ve killed everyone at this busy gas station in broad daylight.
So why did the pastor flee when police “identified themselves with a badge”? Well, when you have three aggressive men not dressed like cops running toward you in a public place waving guns, you might just not notice the badge (if, indeed, the cops aren’t lying about producing their badges). Or maybe the pastor was having an affair with the woman and didn’t want his pregnant wife to find out. Maybe he saw the badges, but the woman was a prostitute and he didn’t want the negative press for his church. Or maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person…
One of many e-mails received by WYFF News 4 said:
“Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, Jonathon Ayers was shot and killed by a Toccoa police officer. Ayers was at a walk-up ATM machine to get money to have tires put on his wife’s car. After getting his money, he saw men running at him. Thinking he was to be robbed, he ran for his car. He was shot through the door and the bullet went through his lung and liver. He eventually wrecked his car and was taken to Stephens County Hospital. The bleeding of his liver could not be stopped and Ayers died in surgery.
“Later, it was found that the police officer who shot him thought Ayers was involved in a drug deal. When Ayers ran, the officers open fired.”
News 4′s Kisha Foster spoke to a woman outside Shoal Creek Baptist who identified herself as Jonathan Ayers’ sister-in-law. She described him as a “godly man.” She said there are “a lot of lies going around about what happened, and the police department is trying to cover up what they did.”
The two agents are on administrative leave with pay until the investigation is complete.
The War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical Non Alcoholic Tobacco-Free) Drugs™ demonizes and dehumanizes to such an extent that on the mere suspicion that a man might be buying them from a woman, police feel justified in shooting at the suspect in a crowded public place, risking a devastating gasoline explosion by doing so. Shoot first… get a paid vacation from work… and apologize to the pregnant widow later.
I live in georgia and paster ayers is not the only person murdered in this area by cops on a drug raid. Recently an elderly black woman was killed too. I think she was in her 80s, maybe even in her 90s. Cops broke down her door and put a bullet in her which took her life. And guess what? They were at the wrong house. Also, I live within the same neighborohood of a politician who wants to cane me if I smoke a joint, and if he had his way he would put to death the person that would sell it to me. Anyone can find this artical about caneing posted on norml. I thought cops and politicians were supposed to protect their citizens. The thing is…who is to protect the citizens from them. This whole thing about legilizing marijuana is a bunch of BS. The big issue should be; putting government control into the hands of its people. If that could be done then legalizing marijuana would not even be an issue.
It is ludicrous that the undercover police think they can just run up to someone with guns drawn and expect them not to react out of fear and try to flee for their lives. Especially in public places where other innocent people are placed in harms way.
This pastor is just another needless victim of this so-called war on drugs. Now, he leaves behind a wife, and a child who will never get to know his/her father. The only thing the child will ever know is that “The police murdered my daddy.”
How many more innocent victims must die before the government ends this insane war on American citizens?
It is none of their business what people decide to put into their own bodies. The war on drugs is a failed endeavor. If people want something, they will get it no matter what laws are passed.
Billions of our tax dollars are wasted each year, and for what? So the cops can justify killing preachers in the streets?
It is a sad day indeed! ~snickelfritz~
It’s a win win for the police. If he WAS a “bad guy” then they got a bad guy and if he wasn’t then the rest of us got to see once again that they can kill any one of us and get away with it. Thus adding to the fear factor that keeps people from resisting or even attempting to resist what amounts to criminal assault.
Another drug task force causing deaths. And to think our taxes help fund this kind of shit.
how can you pigs even sleep at night! I know this, I wouldn’t!
i cant belive this shit truely happens! sad for a baby to never know his daddy. all so a fn pig can catch his natural rush adrenaline high of Epinephrine! why shoot?
These people must be prosecuted more and more innocent non-violent people are killed and the cops get away with it…
I’ve watched the video a couple of times and what I see is a black suv (looks like an chevy avalanche) come to a screeching halt then a handful of guys jump and and charge the car….
…It also looked like he was shooting before the ayer’s car pulled forward. found at about 34 seconds into the video.
of course they’ll be acquitted of any wrong doing.
[...] Georgia drug agents shoot and kill pastor, leaves behind wife and unborn child, no drugs found [...]
Wait i didnt notice them jumping out of that black honda truck..WTF!!! wheres the marked cars or atleast some lights or sirens SOMETHING!! I wou
idk what to make of this one. The video shows him running over the cop and then speeding at another one. It looks like they just drew down on him and he sped off..in other words not approaching him slowly and cautiously with badges and gun exposed yelling POLICE POLICE!! idk this is a messy mess.