Man shot by police released from hospital, booked into jail
♦ A Floyd officer is placed on leave during the GBI investigation into the incident.
The officer who shot a man after he reportedly barricaded himself in a Kingston Highway home and fired at police has been identified as a five-year veteran of the Floyd County Police Department.
According to Floyd County police: Carlos Ribot, 31, was serving a search warrant with the SWAT team at 1933 Kingston Highway on early Thursday morning when 43-year-old Michael Lee Spears began shooting at police. Ribot returned fire and shot Spears.
Members of the SWAT team were able to give first aid and stabilize Spears until EMS could arrive and transport him to the hospital. No officers were injured during the shooting incident.
Spears was released from the hospital and booked in to the Floyd County Jail on Friday on seven counts of aggravated assault on an officer and charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was being held without bond in the medical cell block at the jail on Friday afternoon.
Floyd County police Sgt. Chris Fincher said Spears is a known gang member who was the subject of a search warrant by the drug unit.
Ribot was placed on administrative leave pending investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI was called in to conduct an independent investigation, which will be provided to the Floyd County District Attorney’s Office for review once completed.
In addition, an internal Floyd County Police Department review will be conducted to determine if training or policy violations exists, however this type of internal examination is common with incidents of this nature, Fincher said.
A Rome woman who was present at the time of the incident was also arrested. According to Floyd County Jail reports, Amanda Jean Nails, 34, of 1933 Kingston Ave., was charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon after the firearm was found inside her home Thursday morning.