A man accused of shooting a Cobb County police officer at point-blank range was killed Sunday when an hourslong manhunt ended in a second shootout with police.
Luis Rey Ruiz, 20, of Kennesaw, died following a gunfire exchange with Cobb SWAT officers, according to the GBI.
No officers were injured in the second shooting, officials said. The Cobb police department said it requested the GBI to investigate both incidents, which brings the agency’s yearly total of officer-involved shootings to 40.
Cobb police first responded to a home on North Shores Road near Dallas Acworth Highway about 3:30 p.m. after receiving a report of a domestic dispute, spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said in a news conference Sunday afternoon. A man at the home, later identified as Ruiz, pulled out a gun and started shooting, officials said.
The officer was wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot in the chest at point-blank range, Delk said. He returned fire and may have wounded the man, but Delk said they were not able to confirm if the suspect was hit before he took off running.
The GBI confirmed Ruiz was struck as he ran from the scene.
The officer was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
When police located Ruiz about 6:40 p.m., he opened fire on officers again, the GBI said.
“During the incident, several members of the Cobb County SWAT fired at Ruiz, striking him,” the GBI said. A firearm was found next to his body at the scene, the agency said.
The police shooting is the 21st such incident that ended in a death that the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. 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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