A murder suspect was shot and killed by a U.S. marshal Wednesday afternoon during an attempted arrest at a condominium near Decatur, authorities said.
The incident took place about 2:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of Kensingwood Trace, according to the GBI.
DeKalb County deputies were working with the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest 27-year-old Demarco Riley, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. Riley was wanted on a murder charge in the Sept. 22 death of Charles Hunt in Decatur, she said.
“Deputies knocked and announced their presence at the apartment where Riley was believed to be,” Miles said in a statement. “Deputies gave commands for Riley to surrender; however, he refused.”
During the standoff a deputy U.S. Marshal fired their gun and struck Riley, Miles said. Deputies provided medical aid, but Riley died at the scene.
According to a DeKalb police incident report obtained Thursday by AJC.com, Riley was suspected of shooting Hunt at a gas station on Glenwood Road. The clerk told police that Hunt entered the gas station and went into a back room. A man and two women, who were described as regulars by the clerk, were already in the back, police said in the report. The clerk heard a single gunshot and called 911. The responding officer found Hunt in the gas station and tried to render first aid, but he was pronounced dead on the scene. The report does not specify if Riley was the regular described by the clerk or provide any other details.
No officers were injured during Wednesday’s shooting on Kensingwood Trace. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to perform an autopsy Thursday.
“This investigation is still active as agents are continuing to conduct interviews and process evidence,” Miles said. "Once the case is completed, it will be turned over to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office for review.
The incident marks the 77th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year and the second on Wednesday.
An east Georgia deputy was shot in the hand overnight while responding to a call about a man threatening to harm himself in an Elbert County cemetery, authorities said. Deputies found the 33-year-old Hartwell man sitting in a pickup truck with a gun in his hand just before 4 a.m., the GBI said in a news release.
When he told them he intended to hurt himself, they tried to get him to surrender the gun, the GBI said. After more than an hour of negotiating, deputies tried to break into the truck through a side window.
Gunshots rang out, but authorities have not determined if the man in the truck actually fired his weapon. One deputy fired multiple shots in return and another deputy was struck in the hand amid the gunfire. He was taken to a hospital and has since been released.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks police shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the state agency’s tally.
