PCSO Confirms Man’s Death After Drug Warrant Execution

Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force agents involved in a shooting Wednesday that left a local man dead have been placed on routine paid administrative leave until the conclusion of an investigation.

WSB-TV Wednesday night identified the victim as 60-year-old Danny Hammett. The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Thursday afternoon confirmed that Hammett—full name Daniel John Thomas Hammett—had been shot by agents and had succumbed to his injuries about 4:35 p.m. at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

Hammett’s death came less than an hour and a half after HPDTF agents and Paulding deputies executed a narcotics search warrant at 3851 Nebo Road in Hiram. Prior to the warrant’s execution, HPDTF agents had been investigating the occupants of the residence in reference to narcotics sales. According to HPDTF agents, there had been narcotics purchases as well as several narcotics complaints on the residence.

According to a PCSO news release, when authorities arrived they knocked and announced, “Sheriff’s Office, search warrant” multiple times and then entered the residence.

When agents and deputies entered the residence, they encountered Hammett in the hallway, which was very dark due to the house’s windows being covered and blacked out.

Agents instructed Hammett to show his hands but he initially did not comply. Once Hammett removed his hands from his waistband area, authorities say he raised his hands up in an aggressive manner while holding a black shiny object that was pointed toward agents. That led to agents opening fire on Hammett, fatally striking him once.

It was later determined that Hammett had raised a canister of pepper spray toward agents.

Hammett was immediately given medical care on the scene and was subsequently flown to Grady Hospital. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Once the crime scene investigation had been completed, other HPDTF agents completed a search for narcotics inside the residence. The search revealed that there was evidence that would indicate drug trafficking.

Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Calhoun Regional Office are conducting an investigation into the shooting, and authorities involved in the shooting are on routine paid administrative leave until its conclusion.

The Haralson-Paulding Drug Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional drug task force that is overseen by the GBI. The HPDTF is comprised of deputies and officers from the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Tallapoosa Police Department and the Bremen Police Department. Each HPDTF agent conducts narcotics investigations in multiple jurisdictions.

Return to Dallas-Hiram Patch for updates.

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