Police kill suspect in drug search

A Gwinnett County police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday during an early morning drug raid in Lawrenceville, a police spokesman said.

At 6 a.m., Gwinnett police executed a search warrant for narcotics at a house in the 1000 block of Cedar Oak Court, according to Cpl. David Schiralli. After entering the home, a man in the residence pointed a gun at police.

“Officers had no choice but to fire on him,” Schiralli said.

The suspect, whose name and age have not been released, died at the scene. Another unidentified man at the home was arrested. No one else was injured in the incident, he said.

The names of the officers involved were not given. Three Gwinnett officers have been placed on routine administrative leave until the investigation is complete, Schiralli said.

Gwinnett officers knocked several times and identified themselves in English and Spanish before entering the home at the end of a cul-de-sac in the Cedar Oak subdivision, he said.

Schiralli said the warrant was a result of an investigation between Gwinnett police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Schiralli did not know if drugs have been recovered.

- Staff photographer Vino Wong contributed to this report.