Federal officers who shot a man last week in downtown Atlanta believed he had a gun and was going to open fire, according to court documents released Tuesday.
A criminal complaint identified the man injured in Friday’s shooting at the Richard B. Russell Building as Willie George Stallings. Stallings is accused of “willfully and forcibly” assaulting and impeding a Federal Protective Services officer while in the performance of official duty.
Atlanta police were among a throng of local and federal officers that swarmed the building on Ted Turner Drive, which houses the regional U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Courthouse, to assist with the investigation.
According to the complaint, a caller who identified himself as Teddy Wiggins called the U.S. Attorney’s Office several times and threatened to come to the courthouse and shoot people. The U.S. Marshals promptly alerted the Federal Protective Services and officers were stationed outside the building.
By 3:40 p.m., a man later identified as Stallings was seen outside the courthouse carrying an object, which appeared to be a firearm, an FBI agent said in the complaint. Surveillance video showed Stallings raising the object and acting as if he was aiming at passing vehicles, the agent said.
A Federal Protective Services officer quickly responded and told dispatch that he was going to engage with a man who had a gun, according to the complaint. The officer told Stallings to drop the weapon, but Stallings instead walked away onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, ignoring the commands.
Credit: Caroline Silva
Credit: Caroline Silva
The officer followed Stallings, again giving him commands to drop his weapon, while two other officers arrived on scene. The complaint accuses Stallings of turning toward the officers and raising the object toward them “as if he was going to shoot,” at which point officers fired at Stallings.
Stallings was hit by at least one bullet to his right elbow, but he “kept the stance as if he was aiming at officers while backing away from them,” the document states.
The man eventually collapsed near the entrance of the CNN parking deck and Ted Turner Drive and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. He was discharged the following day and taken to the Atlanta City Detention Center, where he remains.
The FBI has not confirmed if Stallings was the same man who threatened the U.S. Attorney’s Office by phone.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated from a previous version which incorrectly identified Willie George Stallings as the man who made threats against the U.S. Attorney’s Office by phone. The FBI has not publicly identified the caller.
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