GBI: Officers shot woman after she exited wrecked car with 2 handguns

DALTON — A female robbery suspect armed with two handguns was shot by law enforcement after a multistate car chase that ended in a fiery crash on I-75 southbound in Dalton near the Walnut Avenue exit.

A man and a woman who are suspects in a Bradley County, Tennessee, robbery were taken into custody then transported to area hospitals. No law enforcement officers were injured.

Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said a black male and a black female were in custody. Their names had not been released as of late Wednesday night.

The two suspects were reportedly shoplifting in Bradley County, said GBI public affairs director Nelly Miles. During the shoplifting, “store employees were threatened with a handgun,” Miles said. Hamilton County, Tenn., officials then placed a lookout on the suspects and a chase ensued with law enforcement members from Hamilton, Catoosa and Whitfield county sheriff’s departments.

The Georgia State Patrol performed a PIT maneuver on the vehicle. The male suspect surrendered but the female subject fled in the vehicle. A member of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office performed a second PIT maneuver on the vehicle.

“The female subject exited the vehicle with two handguns,” Miles said. “Multiple officers fired at the female, striking her.”