A man who was shot by Marietta police on Saturday night after authorities say he pointed a pellet gun at officers during a crisis situation has been released from the hospital and faces charges.
George Litchfield, 25, was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening after the shooting at a home on Frances Avenue, according to the GBI. He was later released and booked into the Cobb County jail on a felony charge of aggravated assault upon a peace officer and two misdemeanor charges of willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer and loiter prowl.
His air rifle mimicked the appearance of “a bolt-action firearm with a telescopic sight,” officials with the agency said Sunday in a news release.
The incident began around 10:30 p.m. when the Marietta Fire Department was sent to a home in the historic Cherokee Heights neighborhood, not far from Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. The 911 caller told dispatchers he’d been assaulted by his son, who was having a mental health crisis, Marietta police said.
The call was disconnected twice as the father attempted to communicate with dispatchers, according to the GBI. Fire crews responded but immediately sought cover away from Litchfield and requested a police response.
When officers arrived, they found Litchfield on the roof waving the air rifle, Marietta police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy said.
“The suspect refused verbal commands to drop the weapon and instead raised it and pointed it at our officers,” McPhilamy said in a statement. “Officers fired their weapons, striking the man before he dropped the weapon and surrendered.”
No one else was injured. The incident was the 95th officer-involved shooting the GBI was asked to probe this year, and the third to occur over the span of 36 hours.
On Friday, 33-year-old Dexton Bolden, a homicide suspect, was shot and killed by law enforcement in Clayton County after he fatally wounded a K-9 during a standoff, according to officials.
Following a brief pursuit, Bolden did not get out of a vehicle when asked by the Georgia State Patrol. He opened fire on a police dog and was killed by return fire, the GBI said. Both troopers and Clayton sheriff’s deputies were on the scene, and it was not clear which agency fired the fatal shot.
Earlier Saturday, Columbus police shot a man, identified as 45-year-old Jonathan Powell, who they said pointed a compound bow at them, according to the GBI. Officers were sent to a Second Avenue gas station after getting a report that a man slashed the tires of a vehicle in the parking lot and attacked a woman with a car jack.
They found Powell nearby, and the GBI said he threw a ratchet strap at one of the officers before walking into his house on Third Avenue. Powell was shot by an officer after returning to the doorway with the bow, officials said.
Powell was being treated at a hospital, but his condition was not released and it was not clear what charges he may face.
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