GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Cornelia, Georgia

HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. – At the request of the Cornelia Police Department, GBI agents are investigating an officer involved shooting in Cornelia, Georgia. One man was shot and injured. No officers were injured in this incident.

Preliminary information indicates that the Cornelia Police Department responded to a 911 call from a citizen on Irvin Street in Cornelia, Georgia at about 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, November 3, 2024. The caller said that someone drove their SUV into a business on Irvin Street. Cornelia Fire Department personnel and a Cornelia Police Department officer responded to the location and found a SUV that had crashed through the front of a business. The driver of the car was identified as Christian Drake Shurtleff, age 33, of Mt. Airy, GA. His 7-year-old daughter was also in the car and safety removed from the SUV without injury. Shurtleff was immediately uncooperative and combative. He began to fight with the officer, and during the fight, the officer shot Shurtleff. Shurtleff was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

The GBI charged Shurtleff with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. There will be additional charges taken out against Shurtleff. The Georgia State Patrol investigated the vehicle accident associated with this investigation.

The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney for review.