Trooper shoots fleeing suspect in south DeKalb
A female state trooper tangled with a fleeing male suspect Sunday afternoon and shot him before his capture near I-20 in south DeKalb County.
Both were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and were expected to survive their injuries, said Gordy Wright, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
The chase began around 7:30 p.m. on Maynard Terrace in Atlanta. The state trooper, 24-year-old Kimberly Davis, pursued a Nissan Maxima driven by Garcia Venson, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for a traffic violation, Wright said.
Here's what happened next, according to Wright:
Venson ditched the car in the Willa Drive area, where Davis chased him on foot. The two met and tussled, and Venson was shot in the torso. He fled again, returning to the Nissan and driving away. He dumped the car again, this time at a Popeye's restaurant on Candler Road at I-20. He was arrested there a short time later.
Davis, a trooper for nearly two years, was beaten in the face during the struggle. She is in stable condition.
Venson also is in stable condition. When he recovers, he will be transferred from Grady to the DeKalb County Jail. He will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated battery, felony obstruction and interfering with government property.
The DPS' Special Investigations Division and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are looking into the incident.
Return to ajc.com for updates.
-- Staff writer Larry Hartstein contributed to this report.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
