A suspect was killed and a police dog was injured after a chase in Douglasville led to a manhunt and shooting early Sunday.
Dequan Cortez Glenn, 24, of Atlanta, was found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the woods near the area where the chase happened, according to the GBI. He was taken to Wellstar Douglas Hospital but died of his injuries.
The incident began just before 2 a.m. in the area of I-20 and Douglas Boulevard, officials said. Douglasville police officers were conducting a driver’s license check at a safety point on Chapel Hill Road, according to the GBI. During the process, the officers saw a vehicle “attempting to avoid law enforcement.”
The officers began following the car, but the man driving got out and started running, the GBI said. Douglasville police then set up a perimeter and asked the Austell Police Department to bring their K-9 to track down the man, who was later identified as Glenn.
“During the search, the man was found and gunfire was exchanged with an Austell PD officer,” the GBI said.
The police dog, Officer Jerry Lee, was hit once in his front leg. He was taken to Blue Pearl Animal Hospital in Sandy Springs for surgery, according to Austell police.
Glenn then ran into a wood line parallel to I-20, the GBI said. Douglasville police asked the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Patrol’s aviation unit to help locate the man again.
About 5 a.m., troopers found Glenn in the woods near Douglas Boulevard. A SWAT team tried to talk to him, but during the negotiations they heard a gunshot, the GBI said.
Glenn was found wounded shortly after. Investigators said a handgun was discovered near him.
In a Facebook post Monday, Austell police said K-9 Jerry Lee was stable following his surgery.
“If pain is manageable, he should go home as soon as tomorrow hopefully,” the agency said. “This was a tricky procedure; we are praying for a full recovery.”
The GBI has not specified who fired the fatal gunshot but confirmed it is investigating the matter. The incident was the 23rd shooting involving a law enforcement officer the GBI has been asked to investigate this year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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