A man fleeing police after a traffic stop was shot and killed by a Cobb County officer Wednesday afternoon along a busy Marietta road, authorities said.
Devonte Dawayne Brown, 28, of Austell, died in a hospital following the chase and subsequent shooting, according to the GBI.
Shortly before 4 p.m., officers spotted Brown driving erratically and attempted a traffic stop, Cobb police Chief Tim Cox said. Initial reports indicated that the car was stolen, but Cox later clarified that the man’s dangerous driving was the reason for the stop.
Brown initially pulled over when police tried to stop him, but then “refused to comply and sped away,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release.
Officers tried to contain the car, but the man continued to drive away, hitting several police vehicles in the process, authorities said. One officer suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening after being hit by Brown’s car, Miles said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Cobb sheriff’s deputies joined the chase, which came to an end outside an automotive shop near the intersection of Powder Springs and Sandtown roads.
“As police officers were trying to take Brown into custody, a Cobb County Police Department officer fired his gun, striking Brown,” Miles said. “Brown was transported to a local area hospital where he died.”
Cox said that a handgun was recovered from the man’s car, which was later confirmed by the GBI. Authorities did not say if Brown was believed to have pointed the gun at officers.
Police had previously encountered Brown on June 3, when they charged him with a count of obstruction in connection with another attempted traffic stop, according to a Cobb County arrest warrant.
Police had spotted Brown’s car along Ridge Run in Marietta and tried to pull it over “in reference to an active domestic dispute,” the warrant said. The details of that dispute have not been released.
According to the warrant, when police tried to stop Brown’s car, he “placed the vehicle in drive and fled the scene of the stop.” It is not clear if the June 3 traffic stop resulted in injuries, but police said no one else was hurt during the latest incident.
“We are thankful no motorists or pedestrians were injured,” Cox said, “and we will continue to provide all of our personnel and other needed resources to the GBI in the furtherance of their independent investigation.”
Traffic was shut down in both directions for hours as multiple agencies responded to the police shooting. Drivers were urged to take Atlanta Road or South Cobb Drive to get around the delays, which caused issues for school buses trying to take students home.
Marietta City Schools diverted some buses to Park Street Elementary, holding students there until they could be picked up by their parents, the school district said in a tweet.
Credit: Drue Miller / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Drue Miller / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The fatal incident is the 62nd shooting involving a law enforcement officer the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
