A suspected gunman was shot and killed by police outside a Gainesville hospital Friday afternoon, authorities said.
The shooting took place about 5 p.m. near Northeast Georgia Medical Center after officers responded to a report of an armed man near Jesse Jewell Parkway and Wisteria Drive, police said.
The GBI said 21-year-old Adam Paul English of Oakwood was shot by two officers after allegedly walking around and waving a gun in front of a surgical center.
“Our officers responded to the scene, located the individual (and) gave verbal commands to the individual,” Gainesville police spokesman Lt. Andy Smith told Channel 2 Action News. “The individual failed to comply with those commands, at which time gunfire erupted.”
English died of his wounds Friday evening at the hospital, the GBI said. His aunt, Stormy Sexton, told Channel 2 that her nephew was battling drug addiction and had been dropped off at a rehab facility about lunchtime that day.
She added that he left the facility at some point only to return with the gun, Channel 2 reported.
“Just not knowing what happened — just not understanding the puzzle pieces ... it’s so out of his character,” she said. “He’s never been violent in any type of way ever. We just don’t get it.”
The officers, identified as Jonathan Fowler and Jose Hernandez, were also taken to the hospital for medical evaluation, but they “do not have any apparent injuries,” the department said in an Instagram post.
Jesse Jewell Parkway was shut down near Summitt Street for hours as a result of the incident, the department said.
The GBI is investigating the officer-involved shooting, which is the 61st such investigation the agency has opened this year. The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, Channel 2 reported.
There were two other officer-involved shootings within the past four days in Georgia.
On Monday evening, Jonesboro police were involved in a shootout with a person of interest in two Henry County homicides, AJC.com previously reported.
MORE: Man found dead in car after Henry County double homicide, shootout
On Tuesday afternoon, a Douglasville police officer "accidentally" shot a man who was struggling with a Georgia State Patrol trooper outside a Cracker Barrel, the GBI said.
RELATED: GBI: Officer 'accidentally' shot man during struggle outside Cracker Barrel
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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