DALTON, Ga. — A Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputy who shot and killed a man on Friday acted in a manner that “seems to be very justified,” Sheriff Scott Chitwood said.

Chitwood did not release the name of the deputy, who is on paid administrative leave. The man who was killed was not carrying identification and was described simply as a white male by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent in Charge Joe Montgomery of the Calhoun office.

“We really won’t have anything new until we get the identification (of the man) from the state crime lab,” Montgomery said. “We do have some surveillance cameras in the area, and we have talked to the witnesses, and just like always we will complete our investigation and turn it over to the District Attorney’s Office.”

The GBI said in a press release that the deputy shot the man after the man “attempted to draw a weapon” and refused to obey “verbal commands.”

Chitwood deferred to the GBI on details concerning the investigation, but said his office is following “standard protocol.”

“The deputy is doing fine, and he is taking a few days off while the GBI investigation continues, but he will be returning to work and everything seems to be very justified,” Chitwood said.

According to the GBI press release, several deputies responded to 911 calls of a man in the middle of Abutment Road “yelling at cars and people at businesses” around 4:30 p.m.

“The subject would not comply to … verbal commands to stop or show his hands,” the press release said. “The subject then turned and attempted to draw a weapon from his waist. The deputy continued to give verbal commands, but the subject refused to comply and again attempted to draw his weapon. The deputy fired several times. The subject was struck by the deputy’s gunfire and died at the scene.”

The sheriff’s office requested that the GBI investigate the incident.

Earlier this year, a somewhat similar incident, this time involving the Dalton Police Department, occurred on the same road, less than half a mile away, near Callahan Road.

On July 22, 911 calls reported a man behaving erratically and running in and out of traffic. When an officer responded, David Schmitt of Cohutta attacked the officer and the officer used his Taser on Schmitt. Schmitt then took the officer’s Taser and tried to use it on the officer. Eventually, Schmitt was shot in a hand and a leg. He is being held in the county jail on charges of aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer resulting in injury, misdemeanor probation violation and misdemeanor failure to appear.