GBI identifies stabbing suspect shot by MARTA officer at Five Points
The GBI has identified a man shot by MARTA police on Wednesday after he allegedly stabbed an officer and two others outside a downtown Atlanta station, officials said.
George Birkley Jr., 33, of Wisconsin, is suspected of stabbing two people in the bus shelter area at the Five Points station on Peachtree Street around 11 a.m., according to the GBI.
A MARTA police officer witnessed the incident and intervened. Soon after, authorities said the suspect charged at the officer and stabbed him in the hand.
“The officer fired his weapon twice, stopping the attack,” MARTA spokeswoman Stephany Fisher said.
The suspect, the MARTA officer and the two other stabbing victims, a man and a woman, were taken to the hospital. According to the GBI, the male and female victims were in critical condition, while the rest were said to be stable. The officer received stitches in his hand and sustained a head injury, officials said.
It was the second stabbing attack at the station in recent weeks.
On Jan. 8, Jason Harris, 46, was arrested after he allegedly stabbed Marcus Harris, 42, about seven times in the neck with a pocket knife on the northbound platform, an arrest warrant stated. Surveillance footage then allegedly showed the suspect stomping and kicking the victim several times in the head as he was lying on the ground, according to police. Marcus Harris died at the scene.
The GBI was notified and responded to the scene after Wednesday’s incident. Investigators finished their work and were clearing the scene by late afternoon, Fisher said.
Once the state agency’s investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review. It was the third officer-involved shooting the GBI has been requested to investigate this year, and the second this week. There had been nine such shootings by this time in 2023.
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