GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Clayton, GA

PRESS RELEASE – The GBI is investigating an officer involved shooting in Clayton, Rabun County, Georgia. The Clayton Police Department requested the GBI conduct an independent investigation. No one was injured in this incident.

The preliminary information indicates that on August 5, 2023, at around 11:15 p.m., Clayton Police Department officers and Rabun County Sheriff’s Office deputies were conducting a traffic safety checkpoint around Hwy 76 West and Meadow Stream Lane when a man, later identified as Lars Anton Rudow, age 51, of Watkinsville, Georgia, stopped his car on the road before reaching the checkpoint.

As a Clayton Police Officer approached the car, Rudow accelerated toward the officer, grazing the officer in the lower leg. Rudow then drove quickly toward the other officers and deputies at the checkpoint.

A Clayton Police Officer shot once at the car. Officers and deputies chased Rudow for less than a mile before he crashed off the road. Rudow was arrested and charged with DUI refusal and five counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.

He was taken to the Rabun County Detention Center.The GBI will conduct an independent investigation.

Once complete, the case file will be given to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.