Northwest Georgia deputies shot and killed a Chattanooga man who they say backed into one of them with a vehicle Sunday night.
Catoosa County deputies were called at around 10:30 p.m. to a home on Karen Drive, a small, dead-end street behind a Costco that is just south of the Tennessee line.
The caller reported hearing gunshots and a woman screaming at a nearby home. When deputies arrived, they found Dameion Coonrod, 32, standing beside a running vehicle in the driveway of a home, officials said.
He then “began to resist law enforcement officers,” Sheriff Gary Sisk said in a statement. Deputies used a Taser, but it was ineffective, authorities said.
Coonrod then ran into the home, exited through a side door and attempted to reverse his Genesis SUV out of the driveway, authorities said. While reversing, “a deputy was positioned in the doorway and was struck by the vehicle,” Sisk said.
“In response to the imminent danger posed by the suspect’s actions, law enforcement officers discharged their firearms to stop the vehicular assault and protect the deputy,” he said.
According to the GBI, the deputy who was struck fired his gun, as did another deputy and a Georgia State Patrol trooper who had also responded.
After the shooting, the SUV continued into the front yard, hitting a tree and the house, the GBI said. A firearm was located inside the vehicle, and a woman was in the front passenger seat. She was not injured.
Coonrod was taken to a Chattanooga hospital, where he was declared dead, officials said. He is the nephew of Chattanooga city councilmember Demetrus Coonrod, who posted about his death to Facebook, according to the Times Free Press.
The injured deputy was also taken to a hospital and has since been released, according to Sisk.
Sisk expressed his “gratitude for the professionalism shown by the officers involved” and asked for “the community’s patience as the GBI conducts a thorough investigation into the events of that night.”
The GBI will conduct its independent investigation, and once complete, the case file will be given to the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
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