Smyrna man killed by police for waving gun; GBI investigating

SMYRNA, Ga. - Police shot and killed a man they say was waving a gun at traffic outside Smyrna Friday. Now, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is involved.

The shooting happened around 4:37 p.m. in the area of Benson Poole Road near Crimson Maple Way, just outside the Smyrna city limits.

According to Smyrna Police, officers responded to the area as backup for the Cobb County Police Department after multiple calls were made to dispatch about a man waving a gun around and pointing it at cars as they passed him.

"It was during a time of day where children are active and stuff coming home from school, and we got multiple phone calls through our 911 with the same information that the subject was armed, was pointing the gun at vehicles passing and people who were passing by," Lt. Meredith Holt with the Smyrna Police Department told FOX 5.

(FOX 5 Atlanta)

A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told FOX 5 she was visiting her cousin who lives nearby when the shooting happened. As she was driving, she says she noticed the man waving the gun around and didn't know how to react. She says he pointed the gun at her.

"We made eye contact. It was like something scary, something like I wouldn't wish on anyone or anything. It's just a bad experience," she said. "I did think I was just going to get, like, towed right there. So much stuff goes through your head. I do have a baby. So I was just, like, so scary. Like, you never know when it actually could be your last day or when you see your loved ones and stuff like that."

When officers confronted the man, they say he pointed his gun at them and failed to comply with verbal commands, causing officers to shoot him.

The man, identified as 26-year-old Marthely Theodore of Smyrna, was taken to the hospital where he later died.

Authorities have not said how many officers were involved in the shooting. 

The GBI is handling the investigation, which is standard procedure for any officer-involved shooting in Georgia. The Cobb County Police Department is also investigating.

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