Man ID’d who was carrying replica machine gun, fatally shot by police

A 63-year-old man was shot and killed Thursday in Monroe after police said he was carrying a firearm that turned out to be a replica Thompson submachine gun, the GBI said.

The incident happened about 9 a.m. in the 400 block of East Marable Street in Walton County when police responded to a report of a man with a gun, Monroe Public Safety Director Keith Glass said in a statement.

The man was identified as Mahlon Edward Summerour, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a statement.

“During the encounter, Summerour pointed the weapon at one of the officers,” Miles said. “One officer fired a shot at Summerour, striking him in the chest. Summerour was transported to a local hospital where he later died.”

The scene was about one block from Athens Technical College’s Walton campus.

It was one of three officer-involved shootings in Georgia on Thursday. The second was reported in Bartow County, and the third was in Terrell County.

RELATED: Wanted felon dead, GSP trooper out of hospital after I-75 shootout in Bartow

Officer-involved shootings in Georgia this year are on track to pass the 97 recorded in 2017, according to the GBI. The Monroe shooting is the 73rd such investigation the agency has opened in 2018.

RELATED: Georgia on pace to double deadly officer-involved shootings in 2018

ALSO: Experts say weapons, changing attitudes lead to more officer shootings