A DeKalb County police officer was forced to shoot an armed burglary suspect after he refused orders to drop his weapon, the GBI said.
Stone Mountain police officers were sent to a home in the 5100 block of West Mountain Road at 9:17 a.m. Sunday after the resident woke up and found the suspect inside the house, according to GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles.
“When confronted, the subject, identified as Mark Freeman, 53, left the residence after taking a shotgun,” she said.
Officers found Freeman walking in the area with the gun, she said. The DeKalb police officer came to assist Stone Mountain officers, Miles said.
The GBI said officers from both departments made contact with Freeman when he tried to enter a business in the 6200 block of East Ponce de Leon Avenue. The officers tried to get Freeman to drop the shotgun, but he did not comply, Miles said.
That’s when a DeKalb officer fired and hit Freeman, according to Miles. Freeman was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he is stable. No officers were injured in the incident.
“The GBI will continue its independent investigation,” Miles said. “Once complete, it will be provided to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
The DeKalb incident was the second of two officer-involved shootings the GBI was called to investigate over the weekend. The first, which occurred in Savannah on Saturday night, was deadly.
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The DeKalb shooting is the 33rd of 2019, according to the GBI, which investigates most officer-involved shootings. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don't involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI's tally.
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