CORDELE, Ga. -- A sheriff's deputy in Georgia was shot and killed Wednesday and the suspect tried to flee in the deputy's patrol car, authorities said.

“A Crisp County sheriff’s deputy met evil as he patrolled the streets of Crisp County,” Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video posted on Facebook.

The deputy encountered a vehicle in the middle of a road in Cordele, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) south of Atlanta, around 3:40 a.m., according to a sheriff's office news release. After learning that the vehicle was reported stolen, the deputy exited his own vehicle and was shot and injured, the release says.

The suspect took the deputy's patrol car and fled, leading law enforcement on a chase through multiple counties before the Monroe County Sheriff's office arrested him on Interstate 475 and recovered the stolen patrol car.

The deputy was taken to Crisp Regional Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The names of the slain deputy and the suspect were not immediately released. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is handling the investigation.