Police serving arrest warrants in a Gwinnett County neighborhood Thursday morning were met with gunfire, leading to the third officer-involved shooting in the metro area in the past week.
Georgia law enforcement officers have shot 72 people — killing 24 — so far this year, according to the GBI. There were 77 such shootings in all of 2016, with 27 resulting in death. According to a database maintained by The Washington Post, 770 people nationwide have been shot and killed by police in 2017.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
Shelly Ann Mclendon, 37, shot multiple times Thursday by a SWAT officer, was hospitalized with “very serious” injuries, Gwinnett Police Cpl. Michele Pihera said. Police were serving “high risk” arrest and search warrants around 6:30 a.m. when they were met with gunfire, she said.
According to Mclendon’s arrest warrant, members of the Gwinnett SWAT unit were standing outside a bedroom window at the residence on 2493 Buford Dam Road when they heard two “pops. Officer Carlos Huggins, who was hit by shrapnel, observed Mclendon standing on a bed with a handgun pointed at him.
He responded with three gunshots, striking Mclendon in the torso with at least one of the bullets. She’s listed in critical condition, according to police.
Seven other people inside the home were detained. The Buford Dam Road residence had been the source of multiple ordinance violations, Pihera said, and the warrants indicate it was a hub of drug activity.
Earlier this week, a Carroll County man sleeping in a parked car in front of a Dollar General store was shot in the hand by a deputy.
Joshua Mapson, 22, was apparently startled when awakened by the deputy, 26-year-old Tyler North. Police dash cam video showed the driver backing up and trying to drive off.
According to North’s lawyer, the deputy felt his safety was imperiled, noting Mapson’s vehicle is a “2,000 pound weapon.” Mapson was unarmed.
Last Thursday, 35-year-old Brandon Bohanan was shot and killed after barricading himself in the basement of a house after Paulding County deputies arrived with warrants to arrest someone else.
Police said they fired after Bohanan approached deputies “in an aggressive manner and would not show them his hands.” Bohanan was wanted for probation violations in two counties.
“They killed him. They just cold-blooded murdered my baby,” Bonahan’s mother, Renee Taylor, told Channel 2 Action News.
Bohanan’s family said he did not own a gun. Police confirmed he was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
All three of the shootings this week are being investigated by the GBI.
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