Monday, Feb. 10, 2020

News 12 at 6 O'Clock/NBC at 7

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- We're continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding a Richmond County deputy who allegedly attacked a fellow deputy who was giving CPR.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office has remained tight-lipped on the whole situation, but we were able to get a hold of the GBI Medical Examiner's office where Burns' body was taken for autopsy.

We wanted to know if this situation could have had any impact on the quality of care Burns received. The Medical Examiner's office says they are aware of a physical altercation that happened during "resuscitative measures," but they aren't commenting on if it impacted his death.

A witness from the scene Friday night said she saw Deputy Nicholas Nunes get hit over the head with a flashlight while performing CPR on the 17-year-old.

A source from inside the sheriff's office says Deputy Brandon Keathley is the one who struck him. Deputy Keathley is a Field Training Officer tasked with training new deputies. Our source says he wanted a trainee to take over CPR, but Deputy Nunes, who is a former US Marine, did not want that to happen.

We're told Deputy Nunes was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, which drew blood.

Our source inside the sheriff's office says Deputy Nunes is listed as being out on workman's compensation. He says he saw Deputy Keathley listed as "suspended with pay."

We asked the Richmond County Sheriff's Office to comment on this several times since Saturday. They told us they were conducting an internal investigation, but would not comment on or confirm any of the details, including whether Deputy Keathley was suspended with pay, whether Deputy Nunes was out on workman's comp, or even that the incident happened at all.