The GBI on Thursday identified a suspect who was killed during a shootout with Atlanta police officers in the Capitol View neighborhood over the weekend.
Three officers were shot around 5:25 p.m. Saturday after struggling with 41-year-old Claudy Pierre Jules, a Maryland man who was wielding a knife and handgun in the 1400 block of Desoto Avenue, authorities said. Jules was killed and the three officers were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital. They were identified by police Tuesday.
Jason Hodge, 28, was released from the hospital Sunday, while Darien Tabor, 31, underwent surgery and is recovering there. Charles Smith, 31, also underwent surgery and is scheduled for an additional one soon at the hospital, police said. One officer sustained a shoulder wound, another had a leg wound and the other suffered a graze wound, officials said after the incident.
Credit: screengrab
Credit: screengrab
“I am devastated that we are at this place again where senseless gun violence has injured three of our APD officers. My thoughts are with these officers and their families, and we are cooperating fully with this ongoing investigation,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement. “Thanks to the surgeons and staff at Grady Hospital for ensuring that our officers will survive.”
According to the GBI and an Atlanta police incident report obtained Thursday, officers responded around 5:15 p.m. to Genessee Avenue and Fairbanks Street after a caller reported that a man, wearing a bucket-style hat, had allegedly damaged their white Buick vehicle and pointed a gun at them.
“There’s a dude, he just came by my house and threw some rocks at my car,” the caller stated in a 911 recording obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He got a gas can in his hand and ... he just pulled a gun on me.”
Responding officers later found Jules near the intersection of Desoto Avenue and Genessee Avenue, officials said. After the suspect pulled out a handgun, officers told him to put the weapon down, before one of them tackled and wrestled him to the ground, the GBI said.
At that point, the “suspect’s gun was discharged,” the report stated, causing a second officer to fire his weapon. The GBI said Jules was shot by multiple officers, and that three officers were also struck during the incident. Officials said GBI agents recovered a gun the suspect allegedly used.
The report did not state how the officers were shot, and the GBI has not provided that information as of Thursday.
According to online records, Jules was a felon who had been arrested several times in metro Atlanta over the past few years on charges that included assault, battery, gun possession, obstruction and cruelty to children.
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Neighbor Zachary Adrianessens told Channel 2 Action News that some people were outside doing yard work that day when shots rang out. Nearby, he said, events surrounding a parade were underway near the Atlanta Beltline.
“Children everywhere. It’s the Lantern Parade today. We had hordes of children carrying their lanterns to the Beltline avoiding crime scenes,” Adrianessens said.
The GBI will investigate and turn over its findings to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
The incident was the 24th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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