An Atlanta police officer shot a man who authorities say pulled a weapon during an investigation outside an apartment complex in southeast Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon.
The encounter happened in an area just off Memorial Drive in the Glenwood Park neighborhood around 12:40 p.m. after someone called 911 to report a dispute, Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said. The GBI, which was requested to investigate the incident, said the 911 call was a report about a sexual assault.
Upon arrival, the officer spotted a rented U-Haul truck at the intersection of Woodward Drive and Gibson Street, which is at the center of the apartment complex, the GBI said. Officers met with those in the truck and determined the man in the passenger seat was the person they needed to speak with, Hampton told reporters at a news conference.
One officer walked to the passenger side and asked the man to get out of the truck, Hampton said.
That man, identified as 32-year-old Jamaull Jones, did not cooperate and “leaned over the passenger seat and turned towards the officer with a handgun,” the GBI said in a news release. At that point, the state agency said the officer fired at Jones, striking him.
Jones was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition, police said. The officer, who was not publicly identified, was not injured.
Police said Jones is a felon, meaning he would not be able to legally possess a weapon.
The driver of the U-Haul has been cooperating with police, Hampton said.
“It is unfortunate ... but we had an individual who should not have been in possession of a firearm and chose to pull out a weapon, and officers, unfortunately, had to rely on their training,” Hampton said. “Again, the ultimate thing is the officer is going home safe and no one else is hurt.”
It was the 75th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year, and the third so far this month. There had been 60 such shootings by this point in 2021.
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