Friday March 29th, 2024 11:27AM

GBI investigates fatal officer-involved shooting in Commerce

COMMERCE - A Commerce man died at an area hospital Thursday following an officer-involved shooting earlier in the day.
 
Joseph Noel, 25, died at Athens Regional Medical Center following the incident at 125 Ashford Lane in Commerce, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
 
Three Commerce Police officers responded around 12:14 a.m. to a domestic incident at the home.  The GBI identified them as officers David Jackels and Kimberly McCulloch-Grant and Sergeant Kay Denton.
 
Preliminary information indicated that a man in the home had been beating his wife, according to a GBI media release.
 
"...Brian Noel, father of the deceased, who instructed the officers to enter the property to detain Joseph Noel. Officers entered the residence to search for Noel and located him hidden in the attic of the residence," the release states.
 
Police told the GBI that Joseph Noel held up an object officers believed was a gun and that he failed to follow their 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..." the GBI said.
 
The GBI Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy on the body as a part of its investigation.
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