MACON, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating after a Bibb County deputy shot a man Wednesday afternoon near the Mercer University campus.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office says Anthony Baldwin Jr. was wanted in connection to a 2022 homicide and may have been driving a stolen car.
The GBI said a deputy fired shots at Baldwin after Baldwin reached back inside the SUV and grabbed a firearm.
Dozens of people watched investigators work on Felton Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
Many of them were outraged. Nathaniel Foster says he ran outside when he heard deputies coming down the street.
"I heard the sirens. I come out the door. Ended up, he was coming up real slow," Foster said.
He was visiting his mother Wednesday afternoon and never thought that visit would bring him this close to a shooting. He says he saw it all happen.
"Said, 'Freeze! Freeze, freeze!" Foster remembered. "Police officer said, 'Freeze, freeze!' Pop, pop, pop. They shot him. They shot him."
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. according to the sheriff's office. Sheriff David Davis says the interaction started much earlier, around 4:30 p.m.
"Vehicle was spotted over off of Houston Avenue. A couple of plainclothes deputies, as well as a patrol deputy, followed the vehicle," Davis explained.
Davis says Baldwin took 'evasive moves' until deputies followed him down Felton Avenue. He says they never used sirens or lights.
Baldwin stopped and quickly got out of the SUV. Baldwin then reached back into the SUV and grabbed a firearm. This led to a deputy firing shots at Baldwin, according to the GBI.
After the shooting, Davis says the deputies immediately rushed to help.
"He was taken to Atrium Navicent and is undergoing treatment at this time," he said.
The sheriff's office calls Baldwin's injuries 'non-life-threatening,' but would not say where Baldwin was hit.
They say the focus now is finding out whether the deputies knew if Baldwin's 5-year-old daughter was in the car.
"We're not clear if the deputies knew that there was a child in the vehicle or not," Davis said.
Meanwhile, as law enforcement worries about the youngest on-scene, Foster worries for his mother, just up the street.
"Shooting like this is very scary, especially when it's close to your family," Foster said.
Nobody else was hurt in the shooting.
The GBI will take over the case as the sheriff's office conducts its own internal affairs investigation. That's all standard procedure.
Lt. Linda Howard says they are not releasing the name of the deputy, but they have placed the deputy on administrative leave.