No bond for man charged in domestic violence, officer-involved shooting incident

February 8, 2023

Keli Stiglich,

A 33-year-old man is facing attempted murder against a police officer charges alongside several others after a Tuesday evening domestic violence incident resulted in a police chase and an officer-involved shooting.

Tuscaloosa Police were originally called to a home multiple times on Feb. 7, with the first incident reported as happening at just after 7:30 p.m.

When police responded the first time, the victim told police Jamarcus Dewayne Garrett, who lives in Tuscaloosa, came to her home, forced his way inside and got into an argument with her. The victim told police Garrett was armed with a handgun, and he’d taken the keys to her home before leaving in a silver Dodge Avenger.

The victim told police she’d been romantically involved with Garrett but had broken up with him before the incident and filed for a protection order against him. The court date on the protection order was still pending Feb. 7.

Two hours later, around 9:30 p.m., the victim and other witnesses reported hearing shots being fired in the area and saw a silver Dodge Avenger on the street at the time.

Tuscaloosa Police responded and took another report for this incident. The victim later realized her car had been hit multiple times by gunfire.

Because witnesses reported they’d seen a silver Dodge Avenger, Garrett was a person of interest in the case.

After the second event, the victim left her home for her own safety. TPD began searching for Garrett.

After about two more hours, just after 11:45 p.m., the victim’s neighbors called police and reported the victim’s home was on fire.

Tuscaloosa Police and Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue responded to the call, and evidence at the scene suggested the fire was set on purpose. Garrett was deemed a person of interest in the fire.

A few minutes later, a Tuscaloosa Police patrol officer saw the silver Dodge Avenger driven by Garrett. The officer attempted to pull him over but he drove off and led police on a high-speed chase, at times exceeding 100 mph.

During the chase, Garrett began shooting at officers, and two police vehicles were struck by gunfire.

Garrett then crashed into two vehicles uninvolved in the chase; waiting at a red light at the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street.

None of the occupants in the uninvolved vehicles was seriously injured in the crash.

After smashing into those two vehicles, Garrett hit several power poles and came to a stop just after midnight.

As Tuscaloosa Police began approaching Garrett’s vehicle, he fired another round from a handgun. One of the officers fired a round in return before the officers took cover and began ordering Garrett to get out of the vehicle.

Garrett refused, but police said they saw him moving around inside.

After the exchange of fire, TPD activated its Special Response Team, and Garrett was eventually removed from the vehicle. Once he was removed, police discovered he’d been shot in the neck. He was immediately transported to a secure medical facility and treated, and police said he is in stable condition as of Wednesday evening.

No law enforcement officers were injured.

As is standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit is investigating with personnel who are not affiliated with TPD.

At this time, it’s unknown if Garrett’s injuries were self-inflicted or caused by the officer who returned fire.

Garrett’s current charges include: