According to a public information release from Officer S.A. Barner of the Cobb County Police Department, a Cobb County police officer shot and injured a man during a traffic stop on I-75 South near Delk Road.
The public information release describes the incident as follows:
“The preliminary investigation indicates at approximately 10:22 pm, Cobb County Police Precinct IV officers conducted a traffic stop on 75 South near Delk Road. As the officer approached the vehicle, the officer observed that the driver possessed a firearm.
“The driver made a movement toward the firearm, to which our officer provided verbal commands to stop; however, the suspect was not responsive to the officer’s commands. “
“The officer then discharged his firearm, striking the driver. Arriving officers provided first aid until the driver could be transported via ambulance to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
“As with all officer-involved shootings within our department, this investigation has been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI will provide further information and any additional updates.”
The GBI’s role in officer-involved shootings
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation routinely investigates the shooting of individuals by police officers, as well as any time an officer discharges a firearm while on duty, at the request of the police agency involved in the shooting.
Natalie Ammons, the Deputy Director of the GBI’s Office of Public Affairs explained to us how the system works.
Police agencies are not required to request outside investigation of officer-involved shootings, and there is no formal agreement between the GBI and local police departments.
But police agencies make the request so that an independent agency does the investigation in an incident involving their own officers.
The investigations are carried out by Special Agents in a regional office within the area where the police agency is located. Cobb County, and much of the rest of metro Atlanta, is in the GBI’s Region 10, based in Conyers.
In Region 10, officer-involved shootings and corruption investigations are the primary investigations Special Agents do, while in more rural areas with fewer police resources the agents handle a wider range of criminal investigations.
There is no special unit or division that conducts the investigation of officer-involved shootings.
The announcements of the investigations can be found at the GBI’s press release web page.
