GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Commerce

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into an officer-involved shooting in Banks County.

According to GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles, it happened about 1a Thursday morning at a home on Ashford Lane in Commerce.

Authorities say police were called to the home after 911 received a call that 25-year old Joseph Noel was beating his wife.

When officers arrived, Noel’s father asked them to intervene and to enter the home to detain his son.

Officers searched the home found Noel hiding in the attic.

Miles tells WLHR News once Noel was located, officers began to issue verbal commands at which time Noel held up an object that officers believed to be a firearm and refused to comply with the officers’ instructions.

During the verbal exchange, Noel charged the officers and the officers deployed a taser and fired shots, striking him.

Noel was shot in the leg and was transported to the Athens Regional Medical Center where he later died.

Noel’s body was taken to the GBI’s Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy will be conducted.

The GBI is conducting an independent investigation to determine what occurred during the incident.
When the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office for any action they deem appropriate.