An ax-wielding former police officer in the tiny east Georgia town of Sardis was shot and killed by another officer early Monday after investigators say he broke into the police station where he once worked.
Pat Morgan, special agent in charge of the GBI's regional office in Thomson, said the incident happened around 2 a.m. at the Sardis police station in Burke County south of Augusta.
Morgan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a Sardis officer on routine patrol returned to the station, and "as he approached the front door and opened the door, he noted evidence that led him to believe that there was possibly a burglary in progress within the police department."
When the officer started down a hallway, "he noted that the door that secured the evidence room had been kicked in, so at that point, he backed out and called for assistance from the Burke County Sheriff's Office," Morgan said.
After deputies arrived, the Sardis officer and one of the deputies went back in "and began clearing the police department," according to Morgan.
When they went into a room used for file storage, the deputy and officer encountered former Sardis police officer D'Wayne Burke, who Morgan said was carrying an ax.
"They began giving him orders in an attempt to take him into custody," Morgan said. "It appears that when he exited the room that he was in, he turned and started charging toward the deputy with the ax in his hand, at which time the Sardis officer discharged his weapon."
Burke, 34, died at the scene. The deputy and the Sardis officer who fired the shot were not injured.
According to local media reports, Burke resigned from his job as a Sardis officer in December 2009 after a nude photograph of himself that he had allegedly taken inside the police station surfaced.
He was later jailed and charged with one count of terroristic threats and acts, stemming from a May 2009 incident in which he was accused of breaking out windows at two different homes in the town of about 1,000 residents, according to The True Citizen newspaper in Waynesboro.
In 2010, Burke was arrested after allegedly claiming to be military police officer when he was stopped with drugs and weapons in his truck, The True Citizen reported.
Burke's troubles with the law didn't end there.
Last year, Burke was arrested in the nearby town of Sylvania for allegedly stealing $16,000 worth of jewelry during a burglary at a local home, the Sylvania Telephone newspaper reported.
Then, in August, 2012, Burke was arrested and charged with breaking into a Sylvania police officer's patrol car, according to the Sylvania newspaper.
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McClatchy-Tribune news Service
