Atlanta cop shoots man near Fulton courthouse

An Atlanta police officer shot and wounded a man Wednesday afternoon on the sidewalk near the Fulton County Courthouse, turning one of the city’s busiest downtown streets into a traffic-halting crime scene, police and witnesses said.

The man, 21-year-old Emanuel Uzowihe, was running from police and pointed a gun at officers after stumbling and falling as he struggled to keep his baggy jeans from falling down, witnesses said. Uzowihe’s injuries were not life-threatening and he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, Gentile said. No officers or residents were hurt.

ZACHARY D. PORTER / Daily Report

Suspect is treated by an EMS worker after he was shot in the leg and captured by police on Pryor Street in Atlanta. Gun and ammunition clip are at right.

Fulton County Sheriff's Dept.

Emanuel Uzowihe

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Evidence of where the incident started and ended remained well into rush hour.

The car Uzowihe had been driving, a white Toyota sedan, sat in the middle of Pryor Street. About 100 yards down the street, a black handgun that police say was Uzowihe’s lay on the sidewalk across the street from the Fulton County Daily Report newspaper.

The chaos drew similarities to the events of March 11, 2005, when authorities say inmate Brian Nichols escaped from a courtroom holding cell and allegedly killed a judge and three others during his escape. He is awaiting trial.

Wednesday afternoon, courthouse employees and other pedestrians watched with curiosity as police cordoned off a two-block stretch of Pryor Street, diverting motorists and delaying some who weren’t allowed to pull their cars out of nearby parking lots.

The shooting occurred about 3:45 p.m., when officers with the department’s Auto Theft Task Force tried to pull over Uzowihe for an undisclosed traffic violation, police Sgt. Lisa Keyes said.

Uzowihe stopped the car, jumped out and ran down the sidewalk, police investigator Anthony Gentile said. At least one officer followed, ordering Uzowihe numerous times to stop, Gentile said.

Police said Uzowihe refused and had a gun in his hand as he ran, though witnesses offered conflicting accounts of when they first saw his firearm.

Witness Darrell Jackson, 42, said the man didn’t have a weapon in his hands when he ran past, cursing to no one in particular. Jackson said he first saw the gun when Uzowihe pointed it at the officer after falling down.

Another witness, Trevious Grier, said she saw the gun as the man was running.

“He had a long black handgun he was holding in front of him,” Grier said. “I’ve never seen a gun that big before.”

The officer fired at Uzowihe as soon as he pointed the gun, striking the young man twice, police said. Jackson and another witness, Julia Kelly, said Uzowihe fell because he couldn’t keep his baggy pants on his waist.

“He was running pretty fast,” Jackson said. “The only thing that messed him up is he was trying to pull his pants up.”

Said Kelly: “I bet he won’t wear baggy paints again.”

Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this article.