GBI identifies man killed in police shootout at DeKalb Walmart
As horrified shoppers looked on, police and a man exchanged gunshots at a Walmart in DeKalb County on Friday, leading to the alleged shoplifter’s death on a busy Christmas Eve.
No officers were injured. The GBI is investigating the shooting at the request of DeKalb police.
The man killed was later identified as 30-year-old Benny Antonio Hood of Atlanta, GBI spokeswoman Natalie Ammons said Monday.
At about 1 p.m. Friday, a loss prevention officer at the Gresham Road store confronted Hood, who had put items into a large backpack and was attempting to leave the store without paying, Ammons said. After two DeKalb police officers, one of whom was working an off-duty job at the store, confronted Hood, he fired a handgun, according to the GBI.
One of the officers attempted to subdue the man with a stun gun. After Hood ran outside the store holding his gun, one of the officers fatally shot him, police said Friday night. Hood was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident brings the number of shootings involving law enforcement officers the GBI has investigated this year to 98. This past week, the number surpassed the total number of similar incidents the agency was asked to investigate in 2020.
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.
About the Authors
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
Tamar Hallerman is an award-winning senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She covers the Fulton County election interference case and co-hosts the Breakdown podcast.
