Lee County deputy-involved shooting leaves man dead

A man is dead after the Lee County sheriff says he shot at deputies, who returned fire and struck him.

Sheriff Jay Jones says the gunfire happened late Friday night on the side of U.S. Highway 280 in the Bleecker community in southeast Lee County.

Jones says at about 10:45PM, they got a call about a possible drunk driver in a pickup truck swerving on the road near the Lee Road 250 intersection who had crashed into a ditch. Jones says a deputy located the truck and found the man who had been driving it apparently asleep inside. No one else was in the truck.

Jones says the deputy also saw what appeared to be a rifle beside the man.

The deputy then called for another deputy to come to the scene. When the second deputy arrived, Jones says they saw the truck starting to back out of the ditch. That’s when Jones says a gunshot was fired at the deputies from the truck.

Jones says the two deputies shot back at the truck. He says other deputies were called to the scene, and as they arrived, it was determined that the man had been hit by the return fire. He says deputies noticed the handgun in one of the man’s hands and a long gun, which was identified as a semi-automatic shotgun with an extended magazine, with him.

A medical team, which was called to the scene, declared the man dead.

Jones says as required by standard policy, the State Bureau of Investigation has been asked to conduct an independent investigation of the incident.