Ga. Police Use Beanbag Rounds to Stop Ax-Wielding Man Nearing Group

Oct. 4, 2021

A man who allegedly stole an ax and a hatchet from a Marietta store was approaching people at a nearby car dealership until he was stopped by officers firing "multiple less-lethal beanbag shotgun rounds," police said.

By Bailey Aldridge

Source The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

A man allegedly stole an ax and a hatchet from a Marietta before approaching a nearby car dealership and being stopped by police using less-lethal beanbag shotgun rounds Saturday.

Police officers in Georgia shot an ax-wielding man with beanbags as he neared people at a car dealership Saturday, they say.

The man was suspected of stealing an ax and a hatchet from a store on Cobb Parkway in Marietta on Saturday afternoon, according to the Marietta Police Department. When officers confronted the suspect, police said he ignored them and kept walking away.

He then changed his grip on the ax and hatchet "like he was going to use them to attack," police said.

The man kept walking toward a nearby car dealership and was "getting close to multiple people" who were looking at cars as he continued ignoring officers who were telling him to drop the ax and hatchet, according to police.

Officers then fired "multiple less-lethal beanbag shotgun rounds" until he dropped them.

He was then put in handcuffs "without further incident" and was treated at a local hospital "for the beanbag strikes."

Police said he is "facing charges of shoplifting, obstruction, reckless conduct, and pedestrian in the roadway."

Marietta is about 20 miles from Atlanta.

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