The GBI is investigating an officer-involved shooting in downtown Atlanta — one of three shootings on Forsyth Street early Friday.
According to Channel 2 Action News, an Atlanta police officer shot a man during a physical confrontation. Since Jan. 1, the GBI has opened 50 investigations into shootings involving Georgia police officers or sheriff’s deputies.
OVER THE LINE: Police shootings in Georgia
INTERACTIVE MAP: Georgia's officer-involved shootings under GBI investigation
At this rate, the agency is on pace to match the 97 officer-involved shooting investigations in 2017.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
The officer first made contact with the victim around 12:45 a.m. in the 100 block of Forsyth Street, where the man was reportedly heard yelling. Witness Marquez Redden told AJC.com he encountered the man, who seemed “totally out of it.
“When the guy approached me, he told me to get out the way in the name of Jesus,” Redden said.
As the officer attempted to speak with the man, identified as Timothy Bernard Ford, 47, he became combative, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. Officers deployed stun guns and pepper spray in an effort to subdue him.
At some point during the struggle, one officer drew his weapon and fired a single shot, striking Ford in the abdomen, Miles said.
Ford was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he’s now in surgery. He is expected to survive.
The officer was treated at the scene for bruises, according to Channel 2.
Investigators were still on the scene when, just blocks away, a woman was shot in the leg at a Quick Pick convenience store in the 200 block of Forsyth Street.
The woman came running out of the store and toward the officers, seeking their help. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Atlanta police officers interviewed witnesses, cleared the scene and returned to the officer-involved shooting investigation.
However, another round of gunfire drew their attention. Officers heard shots in a parking lot, also in the 200 block of Forsyth Street.
They found the convenience store shooter’s 57-year-old mother dead with multiple gunshot wounds. Her name has not been released.
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“The preliminary investigation indicates this shooting is the result of an earlier dispute which ended in a 29-year-old female being shot at 215 Forsyth Street,” Atlanta police spokeswoman Lisa Bender said Friday afternoon in an emailed statement. “Investigators believe the homicide victim was shot in retaliation for her son shooting the 29-year-old female.”
The son has not been captured.
“Officers pursued the male on foot but did not locate him,” Bender said.
It is believed he ran to a MARTA station on Broad Street to make his getaway, Channel 2 reported.
“It’s very disconcerting that an individual would come up and fire weapons, and there’s a group of police officers standing there on an active crime scene,” Lt. Carven Tyus told Channel 2. “That gives us pause. The officers are using caution when they are out there, and we have officers posted up around the perimeter to ensure that the officers working the crime scene are safe out here.”
Investigations into all three Friday morning incidents continue.
The violent night on Forsyth Street comes just three days after a triple shooting at the same Quick Pick convenience store. Tremayne Mosley, 33, entered the store and began shooting, looking for retribution for his smashed windshield, Atlanta police said.
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Officers caught up with Mosley after a brief chase through downtown Atlanta that ended outside the state Capitol. The three people shot are expected to survive.
