A 27-year-old man was killed and a police officer wounded during an early-morning shootout in DeKalb County Thursday, according to investigators. It was the 48th officer-involved shooting in Georgia this year.
Officers were called shortly after midnight to Maple Walk Circle, near Decatur, on a report of a mentally ill man, DeKalb Lt. Lonzy Robertson said. Quintas Harris had already fired shots at two men when police arrived, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Then, he allegedly turned the gun on officers.
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“The guy had a gun and fired shots at the officers,” Robertson said.
Four officers returned fire, striking Harris multiple times, police said. Harris later died from his injuries. A DeKalb officer, identified as R. Mason, was shot in the hand, but his injuries were not life-threatening. After the shooting, investigators found two handguns near Harris, police said.
Thursday’s shooting was the 48th this year involving officers in Georgia, the GBI said. That rate means the state will likely match 2016 numbers when officers shot 77 people, killing 24 of them, according to numbers provided by the GBI, which investigates use-of-force cases. Nearly one-third of the officer-involved shootings last year happened in metro Atlanta, including 15 in Fulton County. The Athens area recorded the next highest, with 10, according to the GBI.
In 2016, the GBI investigated two incidents involving officers using force. Thursday's shooting was the second time in a month the GBI has been asked to investigate DeKalb officers' use of force. The GBI is also investigating an officer's use of his baton against a woman on June 4 in an assault captured on video.
On Wednesday, managers of the apartment complex where Harris lived called police because of his behavior, neighbors told Channel 2 Action News. Officers came to the complex, but at that time, Harris did not have a gun nor was he threatening violence.
Prior to Thursday’s incident, Harris previously had several run-ins with law enforcement, according to police and court records.
In 2011, he was arrested in California four times within a four-month period on alcohol and drug charges. More recently, Harris was arrested in Oct. 2013 in DeKalb on obstruction, drug and firearm charges, arrest records showed. He was again arrested in June 2014 on a family violence charge and in September 2014 on a long list of charges, including stalking, obstruction and drug offenses.
In February 2016, Harris pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 24 months on probation and ordered to undergo anger management treatment, court records showed.
In June, Harris was interviewed by Channel 2 for a story on residents being trapped after stairs were removed at the Maple Walk apartments. Residents said they weren't told the stairs would be ripped out for repairs.
“What if there’s a fire or anything? Or someone hyperventilates, anything, any health problems?” Harris asked.
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