A robbery suspect who was shot and killed Friday by Atlanta Police Department officers was holding a BB air gun pistol, the GBI said in a statement Saturday.
Before he was killed, the man used the BB gun to rob a store, try to carjack a taxi and threaten police, the GBI said. The names of the man killed and the officers involved in the shooting have yet to be released.
About 3:45 p.m., the man entered an O’Reilly Auto Parts store and asked for a car alternator, the GBI said. But when the clerk returned with the item, the man produced the BB gun and stole the alternator.
He left the Cleveland Avenue store, crossed the street and encountered a taxi, which he tried to steal at gunpoint, the GBI said. But the cab driver sped away.
Officers who saw the attempted carjacking then confronted the man, who, witnesses said, began firing at the officers, the GBI said. The man was then pursued by the officers, who fatally shot him in the 1000 block of Cleveland Avenue, the GBI said.
The GBI is investigating, which is normal protocol for an officer-involved shooting.
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