The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Man shot after he flees from police
Police say he grabbed for his waistband; he is expected to recover.
One person was shot Thursday after running from a Clayton County police officer and reaching in his pants, officials said.
The wounded man did not have life-threatening injuries. It was the 13th officer-involved shooting in Georgia this year.
And it occurred just days after a police officer was killed and two deputies were injured trying to make an arrest in Henry County.
In the latest incident, Clayton County police were called to a Motel 6 about 5:45 a.m. on a report of a suspicious person, Deputy Chief Brian Danekes said.
When officers arrived at the motel in the 600 block of Southside Commercial Parkway near Jonesboro, they made contact with the man and he took off running, police said.
Officers caught up with him, Danekes said.
“The subject took evasive action,” he said. “He actually grabbed for his waistband, at which time the officer engaged with his firearm.”
The man was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover. Authorities have not said whether or not the man had a weapon in his waistband.
No officers were injured during the incident, police said.
The GBI is investigating the shooting, which is standard protocol
in use-of-force cases.
The incident came on the heels of Friday’s deadly shooting in Henry County. Locust Grove police officer Chase Maddox, 26, was shot and killed and Henry County sheriff ’s deputies Michael D. Corley and Ralph Sidwell “Sid” Callaway were wounded while serving an arrest warrant to Tierre Guthrie on Friday at a home on St. Francis Court, authorities said.
In 2017, the GBI investigated 95 officer-involved shootings.