An armed carjacker got into a shootout with DeKalb County police Friday afternoon, authorities said.
The incident happened in the area of Young and Panola roads in unincorporated Lithonia, DeKalb police told Channel 2 Action News.
Around 5 p.m., a business owner tracked his truck, which had been stolen from the Advanced Auto Parts on Panola Road, to the Family Dollar on Young Road, Channel 2 reported. When the owner confronted a man in the stolen truck, a fight broke out. At some point, the suspect fired a gunshot at the driver, which missed.
Two officers who were at the store investigating an unrelated incident heard the gunfire and chased the suspect, the news station reported. The man then shot at the officers, prompting them to return fire.
No officers were hit, and it’s unknown if the suspect was struck. Police told Channel 2 the suspect’s weapon has been recovered.
“It’s by the grace of God that no one got his,” Maj. A.T. Mears told the news station.
Police previously blocked the intersection, which caused delays during the evening commute, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.
No other details on the investigation have been released, and a description of the suspect has not been provided. As of 11 p.m., the suspect was still on the run. AJC.com has reached out to DeKalb police for any new details.
The GBI told AJC.com the agency has not been called in to investigate the incident as an officer-involved shooting. This year, the agency has opened 27 such investigation, and the last investigation opened was Monday after a suspect was killed after a shootout with police in Union City, which injured an officer.
RELATED: GBI identifies Union City police officer wounded in shootout
On Wednesday, two Henry County officers were shot in Stockbridge, prompting a 16-hour SWAT situation that ended after the suspect killed his pregnant girlfriend and her teenage son before taking his own life Thursday morning, police said. Since officers never returned gunfire, the GBI was not called in to investigate this incident.
MORE: WATCH: 'Shots Fired' — Body camera footage shows start of deadly Henry County standoff
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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