GBI investigating fatal shooting of Macon robbery suspect by police near Byron
A Macon-area man was shot and killed by law enforcement officers late Wednesday near Byron after he was said to have pointed a gun at the officers who were trying to arrest him on an armed robbery charge, the GBI said Thursday.
Kevin Mark Soles Jr. had been wanted in connection with a Bibb County holdup.
Crawford County sheriff’s deputies were alerted by a tipster that Soles was at a home northwest of Byron sometime Wednesday.
The GBI said in a statement Thursday morning that when deputies went to arrest Soles at 455 Jordan Road — about five miles west of Interstate 75 — that he ran into some woods and got away.
The time of the episode was not clearly noted in the statement, but at some point Soles was “located in the woods and officers saw he had a gun in his hand,” the statement added. The officers were then said to have spent “the next several hours” trying to “negotiate with Soles to surrender.”
The GBI’s account of what followed said that “officers exhausted several means to take Soles into custody,” efforts that included firing less-lethal “rounds at him to gain control and place him under arrest.”
The statement went on to say that “during the time officers were attempting to arrest Soles” that he “pointed his gun at officers” and “that resulted in officers shooting Soles.”
It was unclear how many officers fired, nor was it noted which agencies those officers worked for.
Soles was pronounced dead at a Macon hospital, and a handgun he apparently had was recovered at the shooting scene.
In the past, Soles had numerous encounters with local police.
According to Georgia prison records, he had served five separate prison terms dating back to 2004.
Soles most recently spent four years in the state penitentiary for an auto-theft conviction in Jones County, where he had also been accused of fleeing and eluding police.
He has also has a past conviction for theft in Wilkinson County.