Kidnapping suspect killed by Chamblee police in Decatur, GBI says

A kidnapping suspect was shot and killed Tuesday morning by Chamblee police officers when a chase ended in downtown Decatur, officials said.

Tyrone Penny, 21, of Lithonia, was shot after crashing his vehicle and running onto railroad tracks near West Howard Avenue, according to the GBI. The Chamblee police officers pursuing him said they first tried to stun him with Tasers, but they were ineffective.

“During the encounter, officers fired their guns, striking the man,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. “The man was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.”

According to the GBI, a handgun was found lying next to Penny after he was shot.

It was the 30th officer-involved shooting the state agency has been asked to investigate this year and the fourth this month. The GBI was requested to look into 96 such cases in 2020, including 42 by this time last year.

The pursuit kicked off in Chamblee about 11 p.m. Monday, Miles said. A 911 caller reported that her friend had been taken by an armed man and provided a description of the man’s car, which was later determined to be stolen out of DeKalb County.

“Officers located the car in Chamblee and attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the car,” Miles said. “The car sped away from the officers, and the officers pursued the vehicle into Decatur.”

The male victim was later located safe. It was not clear if he was in the car when it crashed.

Police ran after the man, and during the incident officers fired their weapons. The kidnapping victim is safe. Agents continue to investigate.
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) May 18, 2021

While no officers were injured in the shooting, some Chamblee officers sustained minor injuries during the pursuit, Miles said. GBI agents focused their investigation on the railroad tracks between West College and West Howard avenues for much of the morning.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

The area is home to several restaurants, apartment buildings and Decatur High School. The investigation did not impact operations at the school Tuesday.

The previous officer-involved shootings in Georgia this month were in Chatham, Bartow and Camden counties. 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.