Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigates firing of Soperton officer after incident

SOPERTON, Ga. (WGXA) — Soperton Mayor John Koon said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations after a Soperton police officer was fired from the department. Mayor Koon said Kenneth Bishop was fired following an internal investigation following an incident in late July.

Mayor John Koon stated that the actions of this individual officer are not representative of the police department as a whole. Brian Parrott said he began recording the scene on his phone after Bishop's actions made him concerned. Parrott said Bishop had his gun in his hand and was yelling at the driver to roll down her window. However, the occupants of the vehicle were not arrested or stopped.

Parrott was a passenger in the vehicle. The driver was an acquaintance, the wife of his former colleague. Parrott said they were on their way to the hospital to check on the woman's husband after he was hit in the head by someone with a lead pipe and ran away. Parrott says that's how Bishop first became involved in the situation, which later led to the now-fired police officer drawing his weapon. Bishop responded to the 911 call after the injured man was attacked.

“He wanted to find out where the suspects lived,” Parrott explained. “My friend's wife knew.”

After being unable to show the person who fled, Parrott became frustrated with the way the officer handled the situation, including his instructions to the victim's wife. Parrott said the officer instructed her to pick up the bloody pipe that had been left at the scene, which he said was an inappropriate way of handling evidence.

“He didn't do a very good job. He even told my friend's wife to secure the gun,” Parrott told WGXA. “I guess I upset him when I said she was lying on the porch covered in blood and surrounded by a pool of blood. I said, 'No, that's your job. You should secure the gun as evidence.'”

The driver and passengers drove off to pick up the victim at the hospital, where he was taken by ambulance. Then, according to Parrot, the officer drove up to the vehicle they were in, got out and started yelling at them.

“As she drove off, he was screaming. I was in the back seat,” Parrott said. “When we came to a stop sign, he got out and started pounding on the car with his fist. He followed us through a red light, got out, pulled out his gun and pointed it at the windshield.”

Parrott recorded the event on a cell phone.

The mayor told WGXA that the recording was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.