GBI investigating the fatal shooting of suspect in Cobb County

By Mark Woolsey

Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials are investigating an officer-involved shooting in Cobb County in which the suspect was ultimately killed (follow this link to read the GBI statement) – a case that sparked an hours-long manhunt in the Cumberland are.

Police say on Monday, Cobb Police were searching for Damian Strozier, 31. He was wanted on murder charges out of Fulton County.

Officers located Strozier at Windy Hill Road and Leland Drive and tried to arrest him. They say that instead, he pulled out a weapon and fired at a Cobb officer, who returned fire. Strozier fled the scene.

Police say the Cobb Police SWAT unit later caught up with Strozier in some woods near Leland Drive. The GBI says several officers fired on Strozier, who was hit multiple times and was at the scene.

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.