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Deadly shooting in downtown Atlanta
A police sergeant opens fire on two groups exchanging gunfire in downtown Atlanta early Sunday morning
ATLANTA - A chaotic scene unfolded in Atlanta’s hotel district, after police said an off-duty officer interrupted a shootout between two vehicles. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked to assist with the officer-involved shooting investigation.
It happened early Sunday morning in the 200 block of Courtland Street near Andrew Young International Blvd. FOX 5 learned an Atlanta police sergeant was working an off-duty job at a parking lot behind a nightclub, when he heard gunfire and went to investigate.
"As he exited his vehicle, he saw two groups of individuals engaged in a shootout," said Deputy Chief Jeff Glazier, Atlanta Police Department.
The sergeant reportedly ordered the suspects to drop their weapons. Atlanta police said those weapons were a mix of high powered rifles and handguns. When the armed subjects refused, the sergeant opened fire.
“This is a shooting involving one of our officers, one of our sergeants, the GBI was called in to handle the investigation,” said Deputy Chief Glazier.
It was not immediately clear if the sergeant had actually struck anyone, but the sergeant was unharmed.
Atlanta police said a man, believed to be in his 30s, died at the scene. At least two others were injured. Those two were taken to an area hospital and were listed in stable condition as of early Sunday morning.
Some of the dozens of weapons recovered were from the car used to transport one of the victims to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to police.
Police also said they recovered drugs at the scene.
“At this point, we have about 10 people detained we think could have been involved in the shootout,” the deputy chief said.
Investigators said there could have been even more people involved. Witnesses described seeing at least two people run from the scene.
Police said Courtland Street, between Baker Street and Andrew Young International Boulevard, and Andrew Young International Boulevard, between Piedmont Avenue and Courtland Street, will remain shut down for several hours Sunday morning.
The name of the officer has not been released.
Investigators said they do not know what sparked the shootout.