According to a public information release from Officer Aaron Wilson of the Cobb County Police Department, an officer shot a suspect in East Cobb after the suspect began firing on responding officers.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at about 10:15 p.m. on Columns Drive.

According to the public information release, uniform patrol officers responded to multiple 911 calls about an armed individual walking down Columns Drive and discharging a firearm. 

Police said the suspect was given repeated commands to drop the weapon, and the suspect began firing on them. An officer returned fire, striking the suspect, who was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. 

The shooting investigation has been handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

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.

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 on the GBI’s press release web page.