Update: A 12-year-old boy hurt Monday in a deadly wreck involving a Floyd County police officer was listed in fair condition Tuesday at Scottish Rite hospital in Atlanta, hospital officials said.
The Georgia State Patrol, meanwhile, is investigating the wreck, which is standard procedure whenever a public safety vehicle is involved in a wreck, said Maj. Mark Wallace of the Floyd County Police Department.
Pfc. Mark Tanner was responding to a call for back-up by another officer when he struck a woman pulling out of a driveway at 2610 Shorter Ave., police said.
Johnette Regina Elkins, 51, of 30 West Ross St., the driver of the other vehicle, was pronounced dead Monday afternoon at Floyd Medical Center.
Jauis Hart, 12, a passenger in Elkins’ vehicle, was initially taken to FMC and then sent to Scottish Rite, where he remained Tuesday.
Tanner returned to work Tuesday.
“He is working his regularly scheduled shift, the second shift,” said Wallace. “He appears to be physically fine.”
Wallace said Tanner received some bruises and was taken to Floyd Medical Center after the wreck to get checked out.
Tanner was westbound on Shorter Avenue and was coming over a hill when Elkins pulled out from the driveway of the Shorter Avenue Saw and Mower Shop, police said.
Tanner’s cruiser struck Elkins’ vehicle on the driver’s side.
The Georgia State Patrol has taken over the investigation.
“At this point we have backed away from the investigation and turned everything over to them,” Wallace said.
Wallace said Tuesday he did not know if Tanner had his lights or siren on during the incident. A wreck report from the GSP was unavailable Tuesday.
Previously posted: A Floyd County Police patrolman involved in a Monday wreck that killed one person and sent a minor to Scottish Rite could return to work as soon as Tuesday, officials say.
“He can return as soon as he feels physically able, which could be as soon as today,” said Maj. Mark Wallace of the FCPD.
Pfc. Mark Tanner was responding to a call for back up by another officer when he struck a woman pulling out of a driveway at 2610 Shorter Ave.
“He appears to be physically fine,” Wallace said.
The Georgia State Patrol has taken over the investigation and Wallace said they would more than likely complete an in house reconstruction of the wreck.
“At this point we have backed away from the investigation and turned everything over to them,” he said.
Wallace said this was standard protocol whenever a public safety vehicle is involved in a wreck.
Update: A 12-year-old boy injured in a wreck Monday that killed one person remains in serious condition.
According to a spokeswoman with Scottish Rite in Atlanta the child’s condition has not changed since he was transported there from Floyd Medical Center on Monday.
Previous report:
A Rome woman was killed Monday afternoon in a collision that involved a Floyd County police cruiser.
Floyd County Coroner Barry Henderson identified the woman as Johnette Regina Elkins, 51, of 30 West Ross St., and said she was pronounced dead by a physician at Floyd Medical Center at 5:15 p.m.
Henderson said her body would be transported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Decatur today for an autopsy.
A 12-year-old boy, who was riding in the car with Elkins, was stabilized at Floyd Medical Center and then transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite where he was listed in serious condition late Monday night.
The wreck happened as Floyd County Police patrolman Mark Tanner was westbound on Shorter Avenue, responding to a call for backup for a Floyd County sheriff’s deputy who was answering a domestic incident call.
Floyd County Police Maj. Mark Wallace said Tanner was in the inside lane of traffic and had just topped a hill on Shorter — also known locally as Alabama Highway that far west — when the Saturn sedan driven by Elkins pulled out from the Shorter Avenue Saw and Mower Shop, 2610 Shorter Ave.
The impact occurred right at the driver’s side door of the Saturn, spinning Elkins’ vehicle around until it came to rest in the outside eastbound lane of traffic. Tanner’s police cruiser stopped in the center turn lane of the four-lane highway.
Emergency personnel worked quickly to free Elkins, who was pinned in the wreckage.
Officer Tanner, whose airbag deployed in the wreck, was also taken to FMC where he was treated for injuries and released.
The Georgia State Patrol Special Collision Reconstruction Team was called in immediately to lead the investigation. Traffic on Shorter Avenue was slowed for several hours following the wreck.
Floyd County police spokesman Cpl. Greg Beck said a determination with respect to Tanner’s duty status would likely be made today.