Off-duty officer killed in crash

On force for just a year, he was en route to a second job, officials say.

A Clayton County police officer was killed after being injured in a crash Monday morning, authorities said. The officer was rushed to a hospital in critical condition following the crash, which was blocking Tara Boulevard at North Main Street, according to Channel 2 Action News. His name has not been released. Few details about the crash were available, as police and Georgia State Patrol troopers were still at the scene. Channel 2 reported that the officer was on his way to a part-time job. The officer’s damaged patrol car came to rest in a parking lot, according to photos from an Atlanta JournalConstitution photographer at the scene. A second damaged vehicle, a silver sedan, remained in the road.

A Clayton County police officer, who had been on the force for just over a year, was killed Monday morning after being injured in a violent two-car crash.

The officer was rushed to a hospital in critical condition following the crash with a silver sedan on Tara Boulevard at North Main Street, the police department said in a news conference. The officer, whose name was not released, died at the hospital.

Few details about the crash were released Monday, but Channel 2 Action News reported that the officer was off duty and on his way to a part-time job when it happened. The first reports of the crash came in about 9:40 a.m., according to police spokeswoman Officer Aubriel Stroud.

She said the young officer had dreamed about entering law enforcement after seeing how things worked behind the scenes a few years ago.

“He came at one point to the department with his mother,” Stroud said. “They catered an event for the department and we met him there. And that’s when he realized that he wanted to be a police officer . ... He eventually joined the team.”

Stroud said the officer’s mother and father were at the department’s headquarters Monday afternoon after his death.

After the crash, the officer’s badly damaged patrol car came to rest in the parking lot of Preferred Roofing and Tools. The other vehicle involved remained in the road with significant damage.

The driver of the second vehicle was taken to a hospital in serious condition.

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the incident.

Stroud said the officer had a passion for the job and she was saddened to hear of his death.

“At the end of the day, we are, of course, a family,” she said. “When you know the person personally it hits a little different for you.”

JOHN SPINK/JOHN.SPINK@AJC.COM Investigators work the scene of a car crash that claimed the life of an off-duty Clayton County police officer Monday morning at Tara Boulevard at North Main Street, according to Channel 2 Action News. The officer, who was not immediately identified by authorities, was on his way to a second, part-time job when his car was involved in a collision with a silver sedan, officials said. Both drivers were taken to a hospital, where the officer died and the other driver was listed in serious condition.