Two police officers were shot at a condominium complex in southwest DeKalb County on the morning before Thanksgiving.
The injured officers were identified by their last names only as Sgt. Matthews, a supervisor, and Officer Howell, a female officer. Both were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where a dozen officers and the county’s SWAT team waited outside Wednesday afternoon.
“We are thankful that two of our officers who were wounded in the line of duty, from early indications, there will be a full recovery,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said during a news conference outside Grady.
Police said a suspect is in custody and being interviewed.
The shooting took place at about 11:30 a.m. at the Waldrop Park condo complex south of Panthersville, just outside the Perimeter, according to the fire department. The area, nestled between Panthersville Road and Flat Shoals Parkway, is surrounded by dense woods and lies south of the South River.
DeKalb police Chief Mirtha Ramos told reporters at Grady that dispatch received an “open 911 call,” meaning no one was on the other end of the call, but the operator could hear “arguing in the background.”
Two officers then responded to the home and were told by a woman that her son was “behaving aggressively,” Ramos said. The woman told officers that her son was arguing with her and another person in the apartment, and then directed them toward the unit.
When officers approached a bedroom door in the home, Ramos said the suspect fired several rounds at the officers.
After one of the officers was shot, Ramos said he still pursued the suspect. He was able to take him into custody with the help of the other officers that were coming to the scene.
Officer Howell was shot in the foot and Sgt. Matthews was shot in the leg, Ramos confirmed. Only one was transported by ambulance, while the other was taken in a patrol vehicle.
“A domestic (violence) call is one of out most dangerous phone calls, but realistically, the moment you put this uniform on, it is dangerous. We don’t know what the day is going to entail. You could be having lunch and be confronted by a subject,” Ramos said. “Everyday is unpredictable for us.”
The suspect was not publicly identified, but Ramos said he is a 20-year-old man.
Ramos said the department is waiting to secure a warrant to search the home, find the weapon and get additional information.
“Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful and blessed, and we are grateful and blessed today that our officers will be able to spend Thanksgiving with their families,” Ramos said.
Caroline Simmons lives in the 228-unit condominium complex. She said the people who live in the complex have become “accustomed” to the violence and are now “numb.”
“It shouldn’t be happening, and it wouldn’t have had to happen if our concerns were taken seriously,” Simmons said of the gunfire.
Cory Smith, who lives in a townhouse down the street, said although Waldrop has seen its share of crime, he can’t remember a police presence like this in the several years he’s lived in the area. He said there are the occasionally break-ins, and he remembered a police chase involving a stolen vehicle about two years ago.
But he said the neighborhood has gradually become more quiet in the last couple of years.
Just a quarter-mile away from the shooting, Debra Thomas, who runs the wig shop Shuggs on Waldrop Place, was still processing the news. After a friend called to tell her about the gunfire, she was shocked to hear it happened so close by.
”I don’t know what happened, but it’s scary. Somebody shooting at the police,” she told the AJC.
Curious about the law enforcement presence, Thomas said she was going to look out her window to see what’s was going on.
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Staff writers Caroline Silva, Rosana Hughes, Dylan Jackson and Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
