An Atlanta police officer was involved in a shooting that left a man dead Tuesday morning at a northwest Atlanta apartment complex.
The officer was serving a warrant as part of a federal task force at the Allen Hills Apartments in the 3000 block of Middleton Road, Atlanta police spokesman Officer Jarius Daugherty said.
“The officer was not injured,” Daugherty said.
The FBI had information the man, who was wanted on an armed robbery charge, was staying at an apartment in the complex. When task force officers confronted him at the front door, he tried to run, FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said.
“He jumped out of a window of one of the apartments, jumped down a couple of floors,” Rowson said. “There was a foot chase that ensued into another apartment building, into another apartment. That’s where the suspect was confronted by a task force officer on the (Atlanta Metro Major Offender) task force, and the suspect was eventually shot and killed.”
Investigators are still determining if the man had a gun. Only one shot was fired, and it was not known where the man was hit, he said.
The man was identified by the FBI as 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison.
Tammy Featherstone, Atchison’s aunt, said the mother of his child lived at the apartment complex. Atchison was the father of two, a 9-month-old and a 4-year-old.
“She did allow him into her unit, and then she informed police that he was in her unit,” Featherstone said.
The family is hoping to learn more about Atchison’s final moments. They do not believe he was armed.
“One of the witnesses said that she didn't see him, when he was running, that he had a weapon or anything,” Featherstone said. “Because of the clothes he had on, he wouldn't have been able to have one... If you're chasing him, if he's running, there's no need to shoot him.”
Chopper footage from Channel 2 showed a massive police presence on the scene.
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The GBI was called in to conduct crime scene processing, spokeswoman Nelly Miles said. The FBI is handling the shooting investigation.
Clarification: A previous version of this story said the agency investigating the officer-involved shooting was the GBI. The FBI is the investigating agency.
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