A man charged with shooting two Tifton police officers last week died days later after he was taken to the Coffee County Jail, officials confirmed.
Coffee Coroner Brandon Musgrove confirmed that Davy Deonte Royal, 35, died Monday night. The GBI’s Medical Examiner’s Office later said his injuries were self-inflicted.
The Coffee sheriff’s office said in a news release that an unidentified inmate was found unresponsive. The inmate then died at the hospital, the release stated.
“The family of the individual has been notified; at the request of Sheriff Fred Cole, the GBI has been requested to complete a comprehensive, independent investigation into the matter,” the statement read.
Tifton police said they had no additional information.
Royal died just three days after he was accused of shooting the two officers Dec. 5 as they tried to serve a search warrant at his home in the 800 block of Lee Avenue, deputies said. Family members, through separate GoFundMe pages, identified the officers as Michael Gaskins and Jerry Fulford.
The warrant was related to an arson investigation being conducted by police, the Tifton Fire Department and the state fire marshal’s office.
After Tifton police responded to the home with help from the GBI, officials said Royal shot at the officers, who returned fire. Both Gaskins and Fulford were struck and taken to the hospital.
Both officers have since returned home, Tifton police said in a statement. Fulford underwent mouth surgery and was taken to Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital.
On Wednesday, local and state law enforcement agencies escorted him back to South Georgia from I-75, police spokesperson Caroline Abbott told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After getting off the interstate in Tifton, about a dozen residents and coworkers held signs along U.S. 41 that read “Welcome home, Fulford” and “You are our hero,” according to the department.
Gaskins received his own shorter escort Sunday after he was treated at Tift Regional Medical Center, Abbott said, adding that the “road to recovery will continue for them both.”
“We thank all that have showed out for both of our detectives in this time of need and healing, and we thank you for your continued support and prayers,” the police statement said.
Gaskins started with the Tifton police in 2007, serving on and off over the years along with other departments in Moultrie, Ashburn and Sycamore, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. Fulford joined the department in December 2023, and celebrated his second anniversary just before the shooting, the records show.
Following the gunfire, Royal barricaded himself inside the home and ultimately surrendered hours later without incident, the GBI said. He was booked into the Tift County Jail on the same day as the shooting, then transferred to Coffee County on Sunday.
Royal had been facing two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, five counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer and five counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to the GBI and Coffee sheriff’s office. He was being held without bond.
— AJC data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.
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