Jeff Davis County Sheriff responds to video footage of May 9 incident

JEFF DAVIS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - The Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office said video footage circulating publicly of a May 9, 2026, incident represents only a portion of the full sequence of events.

In a statement, the office said multiple additional video recordings and other documentation related to the case have not been released by media.

UPDATE: WTOC obtains incident report

WTOC obtained an incident report that detailed the events leading up to the death of bulls in Jeff Davis County.

In the report, Jeff Davis County deputies said three bulls got loose early May 9 and ran through roads near Hazlehurst, damaging property and acting aggressively toward law enforcement.

A deputy said he initially responded to reports of cows destroying property in the roadway, the deputy said it was found the animals were bulls not cows. In the incident report the deputy said he observed the animals running toward his patrol vehicle, which caused him to put his vehicle in reverse to avoid the animals. The deputy alleges the bulls also followed his vehicle and damaged mail boxes in the road.

The incident ended at a home on Fred Bush Road, where another deputy said he was cornered on a porch and shot two of the bulls as they approached; both animals died. Deputies later located the owners, who said the bulls escaped after damaging a fence, and the remaining bull was guided back to their property.

The owner of the bulls advised deputies that the bulls were dairy bulls, she also said that one of the bulls was fever aggressive, according to the incident report. The report also alleged that the owner told deputies the bulls were going to be butchered in September for meat.

See video below:

Redaction process underway

The sheriff’s office said it is working to redact personal and protected information from incident reports and video footage before releasing them publicly, citing compliance with applicable privacy laws and the protection of identities and personal information of those involved.

Once that process is complete, the office said it will release the complete incident reports and all available video footage.

Sheriff urges public to wait for full evidence

“We appreciate the public’s patience as we complete this process. We encourage everyone to refrain from drawing conclusions based on a limited portion of the evidence and allow the full facts to be presented,” wrote the sheriff’s office in a social media post.