Written by: E. George
Published April 26, 2024 @ 9:30 PM ET
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. – On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, Georgia Department of Corrections officers guarding a state prison inmate were forced to react quickly when the prisoner snatched one of their pepper spray canisters and attacked them in an attempt to escape.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation revealed that the inmate overpowered the male officer and incapacitated him with the spray. He then charged at the female officer while deploying more pepper spray, causing her to use deadly force. She shot and fatally injured him.
31-year-old Canton man Jacob Henson was receiving treatment at the Washington County Regional Medical Center for stab wounds sustained during a fight at the Washington State Prison in Davisboro. Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran explained that Henson failed to comply during treatment and physically struggled with the officers.
Henson was convicted for a myriad of charges, including theft of trucks and all-terrain vehicles, burglary, leading a high-speed pursuit, and threatening people with a sawed-off shotgun. Armed citizens eventually apprehended him during a manhunt conducted by police in Cherokee County after his crime spree.
He pleaded guilty to stealing multiple vehicles in 2019 and was serving a sentence of eight years at the state prison.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies and Sandersville Police officers responded to the shooting at the hospital just before 9:00 PM. The GBI and the Middle Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office were immediately notified of the incident.
The GBI is investigating the shooting, and the Georgia Department of Corrections is investigating the fight at the prison in which Henson was stabbed.
Records revealed that this incident is the 21st officer-involved shooting and the eighth fatal case this year that has required the GBI’s investigative assistance. Reports indicated that at this time last year, the GBI had investigated 33 law enforcement-involved shootings, 14 of which resulted in death.