CAU shootout suspect removed leg irons before escape

A suspect involved in a shootout with Clark Atlanta University officers was recaptured Thursday -- nearly 24 hours after brazenly walking out of a police interrogation room.

Atlanta police apprehended the still-unidentified suspect Thursday afternoon on Magnolia Way in west Atlanta -- not far from the scene of Wednesday's shootout. An associate of the suspect, who refused an order from campus police to drop his weapon, was subsequently shot by the CAU officers and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The recaptured suspect was initially compliant, dropping his gun and escaping injury, but has since been of little help to investigators.

"Right now it appears they have given fake names we are currently trying to determine their true identity," said Atlanta Police Lt. Keith Meadows.

The escapee has been charged with weapons violations and obstruction of justice, said Meadows, who resumed interviewing the unnamed man Thursday night.

The suspect ducked out of a APD interrogation room Wednesday, removing his leg irons and exiting through a back door. Video footage shows the man glancing at a surveillance camera before getting on an elevator at the department's new Peachtree Street headquarters.

The Office of Professional Standards will also conduct "a thorough administrative investigation into the procedures of all personnel involved with this incident," according to a statement released by the department, which relocated to its new headquarters at the end of June. "Additional information will be provided once the criminal and administrative investigation has concluded."

-- Staff writer Kent A. Miles contributed to this report.