Athens cop shoots, kills man with knife
An Athens-Clarke County police officer shot and killed a man who was holding a knife to another man's throat Friday night.
The officer was on foot patrol when he heard an argument inside the Parkview Homes apartment complex around 9 p.m., Major Mike Shockley with ACC police said.
Inside the apartment, Officer Lou Pasqualetti saw Samuel Thomas Cunningham III with the knife and believed he was going to kill the other man, 55-year-old John Willie Jennings, Shockley said. Jennings lives in the apartment, police said.
Cunningham was holding a knife to the throat of Jennings, whose shirt had blood on it, Shockley said. Pasqualetti ordered Cunningham to drop the weapon, police said.
Pasqualetti fire several shots at Cunningham, 53, to prevent him from injuring or killing Jennings, Shockley said. Officers administered CPR to Cunningham, who later died after being transported to Athens Regional Medical Center.
Pasqualetti, a nine-year veteran of the force, has been placed on administrative leave and the GBI is investigating the incident, police said.
