First Lavonia PD Outreach Program a Success Says Chief Carlisle

The frosty weather may have played a role in a lower-than-expected turnout Tuesday evening for the first Lavonia Police Community outreach program.

Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle, along with Lavonia City Councilman and former Lavonia Police Captain Michael Schulman and former officer Jeffery Martin, recounted the night in December 2016 when the two officers were shot during a routine traffic stop.

Carlisle said Wednesday he thinks the program went well and said it was important Schulman and Martin were able to talk about their ordeal.

In opening the program, Chief Carlisle said the active shooter training he and his officers received eight years earlier aided in saving their lives and capturing the suspect.

During the presentation, video footage taken from Schulman’s body camera the night of the incident showed the suspect Khari Anthony Dashaun Gordon pulling out a gun from his pocket and shooting Schulman.

Captain Schulman sustained a gunshot wound to his upper arm. The bullet then penetrated his chest, broke ribs, and punctured his lung.

He spent nine days in Greenville Memorial Hospital before returning home just before Christmas with a police escort.  Schulman said his one thought was getting home to his wife and children.

Former Officer Jeffery Martin said he was on his way to eat when he saw a South Carolina vehicle with a hand-written drive-out tag and decided to pull it over.

Martin recalled not realizing he had been shot in the hand as he tried to help Captain Schulman get to safety.

As Martin and Schulman were rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital, multiple law enforcement agencies descended on the Lavonia Zaxby’s and a massive manhunt for Gordon was underway.

Gordon was ultimately captured by then Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement officer Jonathon Merck, who is now a Lavonia Police Officer.

Gordon is serving a 100-year prison sentence in Georgia with no opportunity for parole.