Police: Suspect dead, officer injured after scuffle at Roswell gas station

ROSWELL, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Police in Roswell said a suspect is dead and one of their officers is recovering after investigators said the officer interrupted a possible shoplifting.

It happened at a gas station in the 800 block of Atlanta Street near Magnolia Street around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Roswell Police said the officer, whose name has not yet been released, was in the area grabbing a cup of coffee when the noticed the suspect and the store clerk involved in some sort of altercation.

"Crime happens all over, it can happen at any moment," said Chief Helen Dunkin with Roswell Police. "Fortunately, for the community, the officer was at the right place at the right time."

The officer approached, police said, and the suspect struck him with some sort of object.

“[The suspect] tried to steal and tried to do something inside the store," said store owner Alex Hafezi, who was not at the store at the time of the shooting but was briefed on the incident. "[The suspect] wasn't in the normal mood. So, the officer called him, [and] as soon as he called him, he took the stick from his pants,  and he attacked the officer." 

Hafezi told FOX 5 the suspect hit the officer "so many times."

Police said the officer used a Taser on the suspect, but was forced to use his gun, shooting the suspect once.

“He tried to steal and tried to do something inside the store. He wasn't in the normal mood. So the officer he called him as soon as he called him he took the sick from his pants and he attacked the officer,” store owner Alex Hafezi, who was not at the store at the time of the shooting, told FOX 5’s Emilie Ikeda.

Both were taken to North Fulton Hospital to be treated. Police said the suspect later died. The officer was reportedly being treated for minor injuries and has since been released, according to a friend of the officer's.

The names of the suspect and officer have not been released.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked to assist in investigating the case. This is the 41st officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to help with since the start of 2019.