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'Today is the day,' man says before being fatally shot by law enforcement officers
The Henry County Sheriff's Office says the man was a murder suspect and pointed a gun at officers before he was shot and killed.
ELLENWOOD, Ga. - A man wanted for the brutal, deadly beating of a woman in Powder Springs was shot and killed by police officers Thursday afternoon, according to Henry County Sheriff Reginald B. Scandrett.
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The shooting happened around 1 p.m. in the 1700 block of Panola Road in Ellenwood.
Police investigate an officer-involved shooting in the 1700 block of Panola Road in Ellenwood on Dec. 9, 2021. (FOX 5)
"I heard police coming, a lot of sirens, so I turned to look across the street and I saw them converging on this parking lot. And there was a white pickup truck here, probably 40 police cars here at the time," said Michael Woods, who witnessed the shooting.
Sheriff Scandrett said officers had followed the suspect to a shopping center and had successfully surrounded him.
"This gentleman entered into some dialogue with them, I couldn't hear what it was, but he talked to them back and forth," Woods said.
Police investigate an officer-involved shooting in the 1700 block of Panola Road in Ellenwood on Dec. 9, 2021. (FOX 5)
"I think our officers took every opportunity he could to talk this particular suspect down, to try to help him in a situation to suffer less, and he took the opposite route," Sheriff Scandrett said.
The sheriff said the suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, told officers "today's the day," took a drink, and then got out of the truck.
"Once he did that, he produced a handgun, he produced a handgun, he pointed it directly at officers, officers returned fire, ultimately wounding and killing the suspect," the sheriff said.
Officers then secured the scene.
Police investigate an officer-involved shooting in the 1700 block of Panola Road in Ellenwood on Dec. 9, 2021. (FOX 5)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been requested to investigate the shooting.
Powder Springs Police Chief Lane Cadwell said the same man shot by police was their sole suspect in the murder of a woman found dead inside her townhome earlier that day. The chief said officers responded to that residence in the 3800 block of Equity Lane around 10 a.m. for a welfare check. Inside, officers found the body of a woman inside, police said.
Police said they were able to track the suspect to Henry County.
The name of the victim was not released.
The sheriff said this is the seventh similar shooting in the county in the past month and a half.
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