State Patrol, GBI probe fatal weekend shooting

Updated: 7:19 p.m. December 28, 2008

State Patrol, GBI probe fatal weekend shooting
By MARCUS K. GARNER, LEON STAFFORD

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Georgia State Patrol continued Sunday to investigate the fatal shooting of an Atlanta man by a trooper following a police chase.

Ferlando Colbert, 45, was killed Saturday after he allegedly tried to run down the trooper — who was on foot — in a stolen van in southwest Atlanta.

The trooper, who has not been identified, has been put on administrative leave as part of standard procedure, State Patrol spokesman Lt. Paul Cosper said on Sunday.

Records show Colbert spent almost eight months in a Georgia jail in 1987 for trafficking in cocaine.

The chase began about 4 p.m. Saturday near Langford Parkway and I-85 when the trooper saw a van that had been reported stolen, Cosper said Saturday. Colbert allegedly refused to stop when the trooper tried to pull him over, and the pursuit began.

The van was forced off the road near Bagwell Drive and Park Way, about two miles from Langford, and the trooper approached the vehicle to arrest the driver, Cosper said.

“Initial indication is that driver of the stolen vehicle attempted to strike the trooper with the car, forcing the trooper to fire in self-defense,” Cosper said.

Cosper said the trooper and an adult female passenger in the stolen van were not injured. The trooper has been placed on administrative leave for five days as part of standard procedure. The passenger was questioned by police Saturday night and was not expected to be charged.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has joined the State Patrol in investigating the incident.