In this undated photo released by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, State trooper Jacob Gordon Thompson is seen in an official portrait. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 that Thompson was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The trooper has been fired and charged with murder a week after he fatally shot a 60-year-old man who attempted to flee a traffic stop.

In this undated photo released by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, State trooper Jacob Gordon Thompson is seen in an official portrait. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 that Thompson was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The trooper has been fired and charged with murder a week after he fatally shot a 60-year-old man who attempted to flee a traffic stop.

Credit: Georgia Department of Public Safety

Authorities say a Georgia state trooper has been fired and charged with murder a week after he fatally shot a 60-year-old man who attempted to flee a traffic stop.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday that 27-year-old Jacob Gordon Thompson was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The GBI said Thompson was led on a brief chase Aug. 7 in rural Screven County when a man refused to pull over for a traffic stop.

The agency says Thompson forced the vehicle to stop in a ditch, then fired a single shot that killed Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis. Lewis was Black; Thompson is white. Thompson's attorney said he believes Thompson will be exonerated.

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