1 Dead After Officer-Involved Shooting in Atlanta
A routine traffic stop ended in an exchange of gunfire.
— -- Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting after a routine traffic stop that resulted in an exchange of gunfire outside an Atlanta hotel that left one man dead Monday night.
The incident began when an officer, whose identity has not been released, saw a Jeep going the wrong way down a one-way street, according to Atlanta Police Maj. Adam Lee III. When the officer tried a routine traffic stop, the Jeep sped up, hit a shuttle bus and then subsequently crashed into a pole, Lee said.
The driver of the car was apprehended immediately, but the passenger jumped out and fled, Lee said. The exchange of gunfire, heard and recorded by a number of witnesses in the area, was between the passenger and an officer. According to Lee, no officers were injured, but the fleeing passenger was found dead near a dumpster with a 45-caliber gun and shell casings nearby.
Three officers are believed to have been involved in the shooting, Lee said, but he could not confirm that number. Police have the driver in custody. The deceased has not been identified.
Two guns were found in the car, along with money and a large quantity of drugs, Lee said, but police do not yet have an explanation for why the suspects attempted to flee.