Atlanta police officers were involved in two shootings within hours Monday morning on opposite ends of the city.
The GBI has taken the lead in both investigations, the 25th and 26th police shootings the agency has probed this year. Within the past 72 hours, the GBI has opened five such investigations statewide, with incidents Friday in Randolph and Clayton counties and another Monday morning in Albany.
It is unknown if anyone was injured in the shooting Monday in southeast Atlanta’s Summerhill neighborhood. An officer opened fire on three men in a stolen Nissan sedan when the vehicle charged toward him on Martin Street, officials said.
The GBI is conducting an OIS investigation that occurred early this morning in the Martin Street Plaza Apartment complex. Three to four subjects fled from the scene and their whereabouts are unknown. https://t.co/zpWncHdjkP pic.twitter.com/OxvE7TxTIZ
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) March 23, 2020
The sedan crashed inside the Martin Street Plaza Apartments and the three took off running, according to Atlanta police Maj. Carlo Peek. A second officer fired again in a confrontation with one of the men.
The three suspects are still at large.
“We believe the vehicle was involved in an earlier robbery this morning, and we believe we have evidence from that robbery located inside the vehicle,” Peek told AJC.com from the scene.
WATCH: BREAKING - GBI investigating officer involved shooting in southeast Atlanta - https://t.co/mIirSXcNtA pic.twitter.com/P6GQVv0AP5
— John Spink (@johnjspink) March 23, 2020
The robbery took place at another location in the police department’s Zone 3, which covers Summerhill, Mechanicsville and surrounding neighborhoods. The vehicle was reported stolen out of Clayton County, according to Peek, who commands Zone 3.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
His officers were called to the apartment complex about 5:45 a.m. after a group of men was seen breaking into vehicles, he said.
“Upon arrival, they encountered a vehicle that drove at them in an aggressive manner in order to get away,” Peek said.
No officers and no one inside the apartments reported injuries, he said.
Hours later, agents were called to a second shooting involving Atlanta police officers. A police spokesman said officers in northwest Atlanta shot at a woman who lunged at them with a knife.
This is the 26th OIS that the GBI has been requested to investigate in 2020. https://t.co/ZCLMfOb8rY
— Nelly Miles (@NMilesGBIPIO) March 23, 2020
The officers arrived about 9:20 a.m. to check on a report of a person stabbed and encountered the woman in the 2800 block of Eleanor Terrace.
She was believed to have cut herself.
“Officers attempted to talk to the woman and deescalate the situation but she was not cooperative,” spokesman Sgt. John Chafee said in a statement. “Officers attempted to use a Taser to subdue the person but were unsuccessful.”
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
The GBI identified the woman as Tammy Patrice Black, 52, of Atlanta.
She is accused of retreating into a house before coming back while carrying another knife. Black “quickly advanced towards an officer” before being shot once, the GBI said.
She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she is stable, according to police. No officers were injured in that incident.
Of the five officer-involved shootings since Friday, only one was deadly. An 18-year-old was killed by Cuthbert police when a foot pursuit ended in an exchange of gunfire, according to the the state agency.
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.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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