Two officers were injured and a burglary suspect was fatally shot at a Cobb County gun store late Friday, officials said.
The Smyrna police officers injured were not immediately identified, but officials said they were both shot in the leg. The suspect was identified by the GBI as Emilio Aguilar, 21, of Marietta.
Officers were called to Adventure Outdoors on South Cobb Drive about a burglary shortly before midnight. Police met with an employee who indicated that a suspect was inside the business, the GBI said. Officials did not say what the suspect was allegedly trying to steal.
Aguilar is accused of initiating gunfire during the encounter, and Smyrna and Cobb officers returned fire. The GBI said he shot at officers with a rifle slung around his neck after being able to break free from officers trying to place him into custody.
“I’m angry. It angers me that we have people that want to do this, that want to take shots at police officers, that want to do us harm,” Smyrna police Chief Keith Zgonc said during a news conference.
The two Smyrna officers were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
The GBI said Cobb officers fatally shot Aguilar, who was pronounced dead at the scene. No Cobb officers were injured.
Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump’s campaign held a large debate watch party at Adventure Outdoors, which bills itself as “The World’s Largest Gun Store.”
The GBI was asked to investigate the officer-involved shooting. After the independent investigation is complete, the findings will be sent to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office for review.
So far this year there have been 69 officer-involved shootings that the GBI has been asked to investigate. By the same time last year, there had been 71.
