Gas station clerk taken at knifepoint, armed man shot dead by officers in SW Atlanta

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Police Department said officers had to force their way into a southwest Atlanta gas station to stop the repeated stabbing of a clerk. 

Investigators said the armed man was shot and killed by officers, the clerk was critically injured, and two officers received minor injuries in the incident.

Police said officers were responding to a report of a fight at around 4:46 a.m. at the BP gas station located at 2261 Cascade Road.

When the officers arrived, investigators said they saw a man attacking the store clerk with a knife behind bullet-proof glass. Investigators said officers tried the door, but it was locked. Those officers then quickly worked to break through the metal bars on the door to get inside to help.

Once officers had access, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr., said the man with the knife, later identified by investigators as 20-year-old Nickolas Elisha Pierson, would not drop his weapon despite commands from the officers and continued his assault on the clerk. 

Police shot the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The clerk suffered multiple stab wounds and was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition.

Investigators said "multiple edged weapons" were found near the man.

The names of the man, the clerk, and the officers have not been released.

Investigators have not released a motive in the attack. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to review the use of deadly force by the officers. The results will be turned over the Fulton County District Attorney's Office when completed. GBI agents said this is the 40th officer-involved shooting state investigators have been asked to review this year.

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