A man was shot and killed by Savannah police after he drew his gun during an encounter with officers late Friday morning, according to the GBI.
The state agency was called in to investigate the shooting, which happened in a residential area near Gwinnett and Crosby streets, officials said. According to media reports, police had the intersection cordoned off Friday afternoon and at least a dozen residents from the neighborhood were gathered at the scene.
GBI officials released details about the fatal shooting in a news release Friday evening. The release said officers were patrolling the area around 11:50 a.m. when they noticed a man walk into the middle of the road.
Investigators identified the man as 31-year-old Saudi Arai Lee of Savannah.
As the officers approached Lee to speak to him, he quickly flashed his wallet and said it contained his concealed weapons permit. He then lifted his shirt and pulled a gun from his holster, the news release indicated.
That prompted a foot chase, during which one of the officers shot Lee.
Police rendered aid at the scene before Lee was rushed to Memorial Medical Center, where he died, the GBI said.
No officers were injured in the shooting. The GBI did not release the names of any of the officers involved in the incident.
The state agency has been asked to investigate 62 officer-involved shootings in Georgia so far this year. Friday’s shooting marked the fifth such investigation to involve the Savannah Police Department. Four of those have been fatal, according to GBI records.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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