The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified the man shot by DeKalb police after a creative carjacking Monday.
The GBI said that Eric Butler, 28, was the man wounded by DeKalb police. The state agency was asked to investigate by Cedric Alexander, DeKalb’s public safety director. Alexander has called the GBI in this year to investigate at least two other officer-involved shootings of suspects.
Butler was shot after he tried to use the GMC Denali he had stolen as a weapon against four patrol cars that had tried to block him from leaving an industrial park after a chase, DeKalb police Capt. Steve Fore said.
Butler stole the SUV by pretending to be a buyer at a car dealer on Hirsh Drive off of Mountain Industrial Boulevard on Monday, Fore said.
Butler is accused of forcing the salesperson out of the vehicle at knife point and driving off with the SUV. Officers responding to a 911 call spotted the SUV and gave chase to an industrial park just inside Gwinnett County, Fore said. Officers shot when Butler aimed the Denali at them, Fore said.
Butler remains in the Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Fore said. There was no word on his condition.
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