Five days before a Warm Springs police sergeant was shot to death in his patrol car, he and the man the Georgia Bureau of Investigation later identified as the shooter were arguing over the smell of marijuana at a gas station.
Newly released body-camera footage shows Sgt. Chris Fisher telling Jimmy Lee Steverson that he smelled marijuana coming from Steverson’s truck as it passed him with the windows down. Steverson disputed that explanation and repeatedly questioned whether Fisher could have smelled anything from where he had been standing.
The argument eventually became physical. But the bodycam does not provide an uninterrupted account of what happened next: the footage cuts out as Fisher tries to detain Steverson and resumes roughly 20 seconds later, after the struggle had already escalated.
A separate surveillance camera captured part of the confrontation from farther away. Days later, GBI agents say Steverson pulled a pickup beside Fisher’s patrol car and fired multiple shots into it, killing the 36-year-old sergeant.
Five Days Earlier
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The Aug. 27 encounter began at a Marathon gas station in Warm Springs. In the footage aired by FOX 5 Atlanta, Fisher approaches Steverson’s truck and tells him the smell of marijuana was strong enough to prompt the stop.
Steverson denied smoking marijuana and challenged Fisher’s account of where he had been when the truck passed.
“How do you smell marijuana and you all the way over there?” Steverson asked during the encounter, according to footage also reviewed by 11Alive.
Fisher told him he had been walking across the street when Steverson drove by with the windows down. Their disagreement continued for several minutes. Steverson also raised a previous stop involving Fisher and asked whether the officer had found marijuana that time.
The exchange sharpened when Fisher repeatedly told Steverson to remain seated. Steverson stood again and said he was standing by his own vehicle. Fisher then moved to detain him.
Then It Cuts
The bodycam captures Fisher telling Steverson to turn around and put down items in his hands. The recording then stops.
FOX 5 reported that the timestamp jumps forward about 20 seconds. When the bodycam resumes, Steverson is on the ground and the confrontation has already progressed beyond what viewers can see in that recording.
Warm Springs Police told 11Alive that the camera was either struck or knocked from Fisher’s vest, causing it to enter an emergency video-mark mode. The department’s account says Fisher tried a leg sweep, fell backward with Steverson landing on top of him, and that the two exchanged blows after getting back to their feet. Police said Fisher deployed his Taser, but only one probe made contact before Fisher eventually got Steverson into handcuffs.
The separate gas-station surveillance video fills in part of the missing interval, but not cleanly. FOX 5 described the distant footage as showing the two men wrestling and said it was not clear from the video who threw the first punch.
After the bodycam resumes, Steverson accuses Fisher of intentionally hitting him with the Taser. Fisher denies that and tells Steverson he had been “bucking” and swinging at him. Steverson disputes who swung first.
Booked, Then Released
Warm Springs Police said Steverson was ultimately arrested on marijuana, firearm, and obstruction charges. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, citing court documents, reported that Steverson was booked and released on bond about 12 hours later.
Those records also said Fisher accused Steverson of striking him in the face with a closed fist during the arrest. That allegation concerns the portion of the struggle the bodycam does not show continuously.
Beside The Cruiser
Five days after the gas-station encounter, Fisher was back on duty outside the Meriwether Country Inn in Warm Springs.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Fisher had just finished assisting with an unrelated traffic stop and was sitting in his patrol car at about 11:57 p.m. Sept. 1 when a black 2026 Chevrolet Silverado stopped beside him.
GBI agents identified the driver as Steverson. They said he fired multiple shots into Fisher’s patrol vehicle, striking Fisher, then drove away. Fisher was pronounced dead at the scene.
The following morning, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina stopped a different vehicle with Steverson riding as a passenger. Deputies found him suffering from what the GBI described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Steverson was taken to a hospital in Anderson, where he was pronounced dead.