A note addressed to the Gwinnett County Police Department was found on a man who was shot and killed by officers Friday morning after officials say he pulled a “replica gun” on them.
The shooting took place near the 5000 block of Singleton Road, Gwinnett police said. Officers responded to a suspicious person call in the area around 8:30 a.m. after a man was spotted walking near some soccer fields, carrying a pistol, police spokesman Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the scene.
The GBI said officers initially found the man at the location with his hands in his pockets and repeatedly gave him commands. The man ignored the orders, prompting an officer to deploy his Taser, according to the GBI.
That’s when the man pointed the replica gun at officers, the GBI added.
“The officers confronted the man and tried to speak with him,” Winderweedle said. “At some point during that incident, the man produced a gun at the officers.”
The officers then opened fire, hitting and injuring the man, Winderweedle said. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. No officers were injured.
There, officers recovered a note that was addressed to Gwinnett police. Winderweedle said investigators do not plan to publicly release the note in the near future. The replica weapon was also recovered at the scene, the GBI said.
The GBI has opened an independent investigation.
Friday’s incident is the 99th shooting involving law enforcement that the state agency has been asked to investigate this year. That number nearly equals the 100 such shootings reported in Georgia last year.
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