On Monday, Coweta Circuit District Attorney, Herb Cranford announced that he will not seek indictment of a Carroll County Deputy following an officer involved shooting that took place in Carroll County last October that injured a civilian.
On October 9th, 2017 at approximately 3:30 am, Carroll County Deputy Tyler North was on routine patrol off Highway 166 near the border of Douglas county. North spotted a vehicle in the parking lot of the Dollar General store. The occupant of the vehicle, Joshua Mapson, was working as a security guard for a movie set in Carroll County and had fallen asleep in his car. According to the investigation, Deputy North approached Mapsons vehicle, knocked on the drivers side door and asked him to open the door. Mapson awoke believing that someone was trying to illegally enter his vehicle and then reversed his car trying to flee.
Allegedly in fear of his own life, Deputy North drew his service weapon firing seven rounds into the vehicle as it drove past, striking Mapson in the left hand causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
Mapson was taken to the hospital and later that morning was released to the custody of the Carroll County Sheriffs department and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and loitering. All charges were later dismissed by the DA.
A GBI investigation ensued and the findings were submitted to the district attorneys office. After reviewing the evidence, a grand jury recommended indicting Deputy North for the misdemeanor crime of reckless conduct.
After the DAs office contacted Mapson several times, Mapson ultimately asked that Cranford not indict Deputy North after stating that both he and North were in fear for their lives and while he thought North shot too many times he said whatever punishment the deputy has received was sufficient for him.
Cranford concluded Monday, Given the difficulty in meeting the states burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt for the crime of reckless conduct based on the facts and the law and given the great weight I give to the wishes of Mr. Mapson, I decline to present an indictment against Deputy North for his actions.
