A man believed to have pointed a gun at an Athens police officer was shot and killed Friday evening, prompting the GBI to be called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting.
Police encountered the man on West Lake Drive just before 6:30 p.m., and he was “believed to be armed with a weapon,” Athens police spokesman Geoffrey Gilland said in a news release.
When asked to drop the weapon, the man allegedly charged at the officers with the firearm in his hand pointed in the direction of an officer. Multiple officers fired at the man, who later died at a hospital.
The name of the man won’t be released until his family is notified.
The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation. It wasn’t stated whether a firearm was collected from the scene.
This is the 18th time the GBI has been asked to investigate an officer-involved shooting in 2019.
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