Georgia police officer killed after being dragged by car identified, honored as 'a model officer'

Officials on Thursday identified the north Georgia police officer who was killed when he was dragged by a car belonging to a suspect, who was ultimately fatally shot, during a traffic stop late Wednesday.

Holly Springs Police Officer Joe Burson, 25, was conducting a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday when the suspect dragged Burson with his vehicle, officials with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said during an afternoon news conference.

Burson, who was wearing a body camera at the time, fired shots at the suspect during the traffic stop, officials said. Ultimately neither he nor the suspect could be saved. 

Holly Springs Chief Tommy Keheley said Burson was a relatively new officer who had been on the force for between a year and a year and a half. Keheley praised him as "a model officer." 

"If you have the ability to clone police officers, you would have wanted your officers to be Joe Burson," Keheley said. "He has been an asset to this department. He will be greatly missed." 

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He said Burson was a "genuinely good individual" who enjoyed teaching children about police. 

Keheley added: "If you look on our Facebook page, you will see where it was not uncommon for him to take time to spend with children."

Burson was married with no children, Keheley said. The police chief said he and other command staff had notified Burson's wife in person shortly after they were made aware. 

He further described how the traffic stop was "just a simple stop and the bottom line is: every bit of this could have been avoided."

"This is the worst day of any police chief’s job," Keheley added. 

The GBI said earlier Thursday it is investigating a shooting during an encounter that began as a traffic stop in Holly Springs, a small city about an hour’s drive northwest of Atlanta. 

Authorities initially believed both people were shot, but later determined the officer's fatal injuries were a result of being "dragged by the suspect's car." The suspect has been identified as 29-year-old Cherokee County resident Ansy Dolce.

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Holly Springs police spokeswoman April Van Alstine called it "a very active investigation."

"Please keep the Holly Springs Police Department (Georgia) in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of one of their officers who was killed in the line of duty last night," the nearby Paulding County Sheriff’s Office said on its social media accounts.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.