Authorities are searching for a man they say shot two MARTA police officers as they confronted him for urinating near a platform at a downtown Atlanta station late Thursday.
The officers were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and are expected to recover, according to Chief M. Scott Kreher. One was shot in his arm, and the other had a graze wound to her knee.
U.S. Marshals are looking for the suspect, whom MARTA police have identified but whose name they but did not publicly release.
The situation unfolded at the Five Points station around 11:30 p.m., authorities said.
When the officers saw the man, they “approached him to let him know that that’s not proper behavior, and that they were probably going to give him a quick suspension from the system, let him walk away,” Kreher told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He added: “But once they approached him, he became very irate and refused to cooperate.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
As the officers tried to handcuff the man, he pulled out a handgun and fired several times over his shoulder, Kreher said. The suspect then took a train to the West End station, where he tossed the gun atop its roof, the chief added.
At the Five Points station early Friday morning, there was no sign of the chaos from the night before. There are no disruptions to MARTA operations related to the incident.
Kreher said the officer with a knee injury has been released from the hospital but has some hearing loss in one ear because of the proximity to the gunfire.
“She’s expected to make a full recovery from that,” he said.
The other officer is awaiting surgery in the intensive care unit but is “in good spirits,” Kreher said.
The incident comes as the transportation agency weathers leadership upheaval and criticism, including over its handling of large events that draw big crowds to stations.
After a July 14 Beyoncé concert, an escalator malfunctioned, leaving at least 21 injured.
A few days later, the agency’s General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood announced his early retirement. MARTA’s board attorney previously said Greenwood, who is Canadian, is leaving “because of immigration and personal matters.”
MARTA is no stranger to violence at its stations, though officials have stressed that the transportation agency is safe. In May, for example, two people were shot during what police said was an attempted robbery. Both victims survived, and no arrests have been made, a MARTA spokesperson confirmed Friday.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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