By Alexis Stevens and Henri Hollis
Source The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One person was killed and two were injured, including a Fulton County sheriff’s deputy, after a suspected armed robbery in southwest Atlanta led to a shootout between the deputy and suspect, officials said.
The incident began in the Easy Rental store on Lee Street in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood at about 5 p.m. Monday, Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat told media at a news conference outside of Grady Memorial Hospital.
According to Labat, two victims ran outside of the store and flagged down the deputy, who was working an off-duty job nearby. One of the victims had been shot in what investigators believe was an attempted robbery, Labat said.
Lt. Gerald Johnson “ran toward danger,” Labat said. Johnson quickly encountered the suspect, who had an assault rifle, according to the sheriff. The two exchanged gunfire and both were hit; Johnson suffered a non-life-threatening injury to his hand, but the suspect was killed.
Johnson was taken to a hospital and was released soon after, the sheriff’s office said.
He joined the sheriff’s office in 1993 and had previously retired, Labat said, before being rehired in recent years.
The GBI will investigate the shooting at the request of the sheriff’s office, Labat said, while Atlanta police will investigate the initial incident.
The shooting happened just hours after another fatal shooting in the West End neighborhood. Less than three hours earlier, a 19-year-old was shot and killed about a mile away, Atlanta police said. Streets in the area were blocked off as officers searched for a suspect and gathered evidence, but police have not announced any arrests.
The incident at the Easy Rental was also the second officer-involved shooting in as many days, according to the GBI. Early Sunday, a man exchanged gunfire with a Hall County deputy after fleeing a traffic stop, according to investigators.
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