Atlanta police officers hospitalized, armed suspect dead in street altercation: authorities

American news

By Associated Press

ATLANTA — Three Atlanta police officers were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after an altercation that left a suspect dead Saturday night, authorities said.

Officers responded at 5:15 p.m. to a report of an armed man in a commercial area on Fairbanks Street and encountered a man with a handgun and a knife on Desoto Avenue, the Atlanta police chief said , Darin Schierbaum, during a press conference.

“During this encounter, there was a fight, there were gunshots which injured three of our officers. This also resulted in the death of the person armed with the handgun,” Schierbaum said.

Police did not immediately identify the deceased man. Police did not believe anyone else was involved, Schierbaum said.

All three officers were transported in police cruisers to Grady Memorial Hospital.

One officer was shot in the shoulder, another in the leg and the third received a graze wound. Two of the officers are expected to undergo surgery, Schierbaum said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will lead the investigation into the shooting, he said.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said he spoke with hospital workers and that they were “alert, conscious and breathing.”

“Once again you see that guns are causing harm to our communities,” Dickens said at the news conference outside the hospital, noting that he and other officials were heading to a collection of funds for the police when they were informed of the shooting.