The Augusta felon who was shot by a deputy this week remained in critical condition at Doctors Hospital on Friday.
Brandon Pierre Hill, 31, is the armed suspect who allegedly pointed a gun at Deputy David Hopkins on Thursday not far from Glenn Hills Middle School, authorities said.
A sheriff’s report, released Friday, said a woman reported that Hill had stolen her gun during a domestic dispute on Primrose Drive. Officers realized Hill had several warrants for him and found him on Glenn Hills Drive.
“While Dep. Hopkins was exiting his patrol car, Brandon Hill pointed a black handgun at him,” the report says. “Dep. Hopkins fired at Brandon Hill and struck him at least one time. Brandon Hill then dropped the firearm and fell to the ground. Dep. Hopkins provided aid to Brandon Hill until the arrival of EMS.”
Hill is facing charges of aggravated assault upon a police officer and weapon possession.
The suspect is well-known to local officers. In 2011, Hill was charged with armed robbery and weapon possession, which resulted in a robbery conviction and an eight-year prison sentence, which included time for burglary and theft cases that took place while he was awaiting trial.
He was out of prison by 2018, when he was picked up for felony theft, a case that went nowhere. He has since been arrested on a long list of charges, always making bond in a string of offenses that have never gone to trial over a five-year period.
In 2020, he was jailed for leading cops on a chase while driving under the influence of drugs, and that case remains open five years later. A burglary case from the same years also remains unresolved. He has warrants for probation violation.
Lastly, in 2021, Hill was jailed for battery and criminal trespass, which also remains wide open in the courts without resolution.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office says Deputy Hopkins has been with the agency since August 2019. The deputy’s body-worn camera was activated during the incident and has been turned over to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Force Investigation Team for review. The District Attorney’s Office has also been notified.
