Man wounds himself after Georgia officers seek to question him about 4 jail escapees, sheriff says

MACON, Ga. (AP) — A man shot and wounded himself Monday when officers sought to question him about four escapees from a Georgia jail, authorities said.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis told reporters deputies got a tip about a man who might have information about the escapes.

“Let me make that clear-- he is not one of our escapees,” Davis told reporters. “But he is a person that we feel has knowledge of where they might be, that has knowledge of the escape, and who has some connection to at least one or two of the people we’re looking for.”

The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force went to a Macon apartment, but when officers knocked on the door, someone shot through the door from inside, Davis said. When a SWAT team arrived, they found the man wounded, apparently having shot himself, the sheriff said.

Davis said no officers fired their guns. He did not say anything about how seriously wounded the man was.

Officers took a second person at the apartment into custody for questioning. Davis said that person might have information on the escapees, who broke out of the Bibb County jail Oct. 16.

The four escapees have been identified as Joey Fournier, Marc Kerry Anderson, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell and Chavis Demaryo Stokes.

On Friday, deputies found a blue Dodge Challenger abandoned in the parking lot of a Macon supermarket that they believe was involved in the escape.

Video showed the Challenger had been just outside the jail earlier in the night and appeared to show someone tampering with the fence. That person then brought some items into the enclosed area, and the sheriff said investigators believe the items were used to help the men escape. The men escaped out a jail window and through the fence.

A combined $73,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the inmates.

Fournier, 52, is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He was being held on a murder charge after he was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in February 2022.

Anderson, 24, is a Black male with dreadlocks and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He is charged with aggravated assault.

Barnwell, 37, is a Black male with braids and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He was being held on federal drug charges.

Stokes, 29, is a Black male with short black hair and is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He was being held on charges of possession of a firearm and drug trafficking.