Deputy shoots domestic shooting suspect outside Canton Red Lobster, officials say

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - It took the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office about an hour to find him about 25 minutes away in Canton and that is when investigators say he tried to grab a gun and a deputy shot him.

"I was definitely a little concerned, especially with everything that's going on in America today, it was definitely a scary moment for sure," said Halee Sanderson who was working nearby.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which was requested to investigate, identified the man as 67-year-old Mark Allen.

The Canton Police Department confirmed a shooting involved a Cherokee County deputy at a Red Lobster on Riverstone Parkway.

About an hour before the shooting, deputies say the suspect used fired several rounds at a home on Meadowbrook Lane in Woodstock, a home he was not legally allowed to be at.

"He opened fire on the front door and the door lock," said Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Patty Pan. "At the time the wife and the teen daughter were inside, they were not hurt."

The suspect took off before Cherokee County deputies arrived prompting a search. 

Investigators say he drove about 25 minutes to the Red Lobster where he parked his minivan. It was not long after that when he was found.

"That officer then approached the vehicle, that suspect reached for a firearm and that deputy shot that suspect," Pan said. 

A witness tells FOX 5 Atlanta they heard two shots while they worked nearby causing some concern.

"Never thought that anything like this would happen especially to me, I know it wasn't me, but I was near it, and it was definitely scary," Sanderson said.

Officials said Sunday Allen is at a local hospital receiving treatment for "critical injuries."

The deputy involved is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. Findings will be delivered to the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney.