According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Officer Sherry Hall has been charged with four felonies for fabricating an entire story about being shot by a black man.
The charges include “false statements, tampering with evidence, interference with government property and violation of oath of office,” CBS News additionally reports. Hall’s story began on the night of Sept. 13. While on a standard patrol well after midnight, Hall claims she saw a person sitting on the side of the road, and described him as a “6-foot, 230-pound black man” who adorned a “green shirt and black jogging pants.”
Hall said she exited her patrol vehicle and questioned the unidentified person as to what’s his business in this location. He then “became argumentative,” Chief James Morgan said while recalling Hall’s story. The male figure “pulled a weapon and fired one round” in Hall’s direction, which hit “her in the lower abdomen area” of her bulletproof vest. Hall said she fired one round before the man retreated from the scene, and treated her “deep bruise” at a local hospital.
A description of the male was highlighted throughout Jackson, but after Hall engaged in a series of interviews with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, authorities concluded that her recollection was entirely false.
Initially, no concrete evidence was recovered from that night to solidify Hall’s encounter, because she admitted that she failed to “engage her in-car video and audio.” But according to Special Agent Joe Wooten, evidence was able to be retrieved off the video/audio’s hard drive that proved there were “inconsistencies” in Hall’s story.
In one of her testimonies, she said two shots were fired. On the audio, three shots were heard. The District Attorney also added that Hall “wasn’t even on a police call at the time she reported being shot.” Along the course of the investigation, Hall “stopped cooperating” with investigators.
“After following leads and evidence, the investigation has now revealed that there is no, and never was, a suspect shooter at large in Jackson, Georgia,” Wooten said. The GBI dedicated more than 600 hours to deciphering the case. Hall also had an additional handgun with her that same night, which she neglected to tell investigators. Through a search warrant, they found the weapon at her house. Hall reportedly planted the Glock.27’s shell casing and claimed it was the unidentified person’s bullet.
Authorities didn’t confirm nor deny that Hall, who was on the force for three months, most likely shot herself.
“Cops are humans and they make mistakes, but this is not a mistake,” said Butts County Sheriff Gary Long. “This is criminal.”