Suspect killed by Cobb police identified

Cobb County authorties have identified the driver who police fatally shot Wednesday after he led them on a high-speed chase through an apartment complex, crashed and ran, then threatened officers pursuing him, authorities said.

Police identified the dead man as Eric Dewayne Moon Jr., 23, of Marietta.

The incident began shortly before 4 p.m. when two uniformed officers in a marked squad car tried to stop a silver 1999 Chevrolet Lumina on Terrell Mill Road near Marietta, according to Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce.

Moon, the sole occupant of the vehicle, refused to stop for the officers’ blue lights and siren and turned into the Lincoln Hills apartment complex at 3500 Windcliff, Pierce said.

Moon accelerated, struck a tree and flipped his vehicle. The car skidded for a distance on its roof before righting itself and coming to a stop.

Moon got out of the car, ran and vanished into the 1900 apartment building on the northeast corner of the complex. The two officers, joined by other police, followed the man.

“They tracked him to that building and inside where they entered and were faced with a deadly force situation by the suspect,” Pierce said. “They used their handguns to stop the aggression, killing the suspect inside the apartment.”

Pierce declined to say how Moon posed a threat to the officers or how many officers fired their guns.

Police were seeking to determine if Moon lived in the apartment or knew someone who lived there, and if the car he was driving was his.

The investigation is continuing.

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