A man was shot by DeKalb County police Sunday morning after he allegedly charged at officers while pointing a shotgun, authorities said.
It was the second officer-involved shooting the GBI was asked to investigate within eight hours and the third since Friday.
The latest incident started around 9 a.m. Sunday when DeKalb police got a call from a mother worried about her 23-year-old son who was threatening to take his own life, officials said. When officers arrived at the Trails of Southland subdivision, they encountered Israel Johnson in the cul-de-sac near his home on Southland Point, the GBI said, adding that he was holding the shotgun to his head at the time.
Police tried to communicate with him from their patrol vehicles, but Johnson began walking toward them and then pointed the gun at officers, according to the GBI.
That left the officers with “no choice but to fire several times,” police Chief Mirtha Ramos said during a news conference later the same morning.
Johnson was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was said to be stable.
No officers were hurt, police said, but those involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following officer-involved shootings.
Once the GBI is finished with its investigation, the case file will be given to the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office for review.
Just eight hours earlier, at 1:20 a.m. Sunday, a 26-year-old man was killed in a shootout with police at a gas station in Athens. Marquavious Sims allegedly had a machine gun and was “waving it around” before opening fire on pursuing officers, the GBI said in that case.
On Friday at 11:30 p.m., a man with outstanding warrants was shot and killed by Cobb County police at a Walgreens near the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Cumberland Boulevard. Details on the charges he faced were not released.
The latest incident marked the 50th officer-involved shooting investigated by the GBI this year. At this same time last year, that number stood at 64.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
