Atlanta police shoot armed man in ‘running gun battle’

Suspect shot at officers after shooting woman at apartment, cops say.

Two people were injured Monday when a man shot a woman, then pointed his rifle at Atlanta police officers, police said.

Officers responded to a call about 4:30 a.m. about a woman being held against her will at gunpoint at an apartment on Bent Creek Way, Atlanta Deputy Chief Jeff Glazier said.

“When the officers arrived, they found the suspect actively shooting at the female as she was trying to drive away,” Glazier said.

The woman, 23, was wounded in the stomach and hand. She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she is in stable condition.

“The officers took on the suspect,” Glazier said. “It turned into a running gun battle throughout the apartment complex.”

The suspect, 21, shot at officers with a rifle, and five Atlanta officers returned fire, Glazier said.

The suspect was shot in the stomach and leg. He was also taken to Grady, where he is in stable condition.

Neighbors told Channel 2 Action News the shooting is the third violent incident reported in the area recently.

Atlanta police are investigating the initial shooting that led to the woman’s injuries.

The GBI is investigating the officers’ involvement in the shootout.

It was the fifth shooting in less than two weeks involving Georgia officers.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper fatally shot a man after a chase early March 18 in Polk County. Jason Dennis Watkins, 36, was taken to Polk County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Willie Ivy III, 29, of Atlanta died after a Fulton County police officer and an armed security guard shot him early March 18 in College Park, the GBI said.

A Pickens County sheriff ’s sergeant on March 21 shot and critically injured Gary Lee Castle after he “moved aggressively” toward the official “with a large metal pipe in his hand,” the sheriff ’s office said.

An off-duty Fulton County officer on March 22 shot a man suspected of theft, officials said. The incident also involved a car chase that ended with a collision.

In January and February, the GBI conducted 17 officer-involved shooting investigations, agency spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.

The GBI investigated 78 police shootings in the state last year.

JOHN SPINK PHOTOS /JSPINK@AJC.COM Two people were injured Monday when a man shot a woman, then pointed his rifle at Atlanta police officers, police said. The woman, 23, was wounded in the stomach and hand. She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she is in stable condition. The...

Atlanta police are investigating the initial shooting at an apartment complex on Bent Creek Way that led to the woman’s injuries. The GBI is investigating the officers’ involvement in the subsequent shootout with an armed man accused of shooting the...