An Atlanta police officer shot one of three alleged home invaders attempting to break into the officer’s home Sunday morning in Lithonia, Channel 2 Action News reported.
The officer involved in the incident, David Sutton, is a six-year veteran of the department, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Warren Pickard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In a DeKalb County Police report released Monday, Sutton said he exchanged gunfire with the suspects after they allegedly kicked down his front door when he didn’t respond to their knocks.
Sutton, off-duty at the time, alleged he heard the knocks at about 10:15 a.m. and saw the suspects pull up to his garage door in a black Mercury sedan with tinted windows and writing on the back window. The officer grabbed his police service weapon, a .40 caliber Glock, and began walking to the top of his steps, according to the report.
He alleged that by the time he got there, the suspects, wearing black masks and armed with handguns, had already kicked in his front door.
Sutton claims in the police report, he fired his gun but doesn’t remember how many times. The suspects allegedly fired back at him, and Sutton said he hid behind a nearby wall. He said he saw at least one of the suspects run out of the house.
DeKalb County police spokesman Maj. Stephen Fore said the suspect Sutton shot, a juvenile, was later found at DeKalb Medical Hillandale, where he was listed in stable condition. Officers were still looking for the two other suspects.
Sutton wasn’t injured in the alleged invasion.
Kathy Prince, the block captain of the Burlington subdivision where the incident happened, said there have been five attempted break-ins recently in the neighborhood, so area residents were relieved to hear Sutton caught the intruders in the act.
“We’re saying, ‘Hooray!’” Prince said. “It’s about time.”
About the Author
