Cobb police fatally shoot armed shoplifting suspect at Town Center Mall

By Mark Woolsey

Cobb police fatally shot an armed shoplifting suspect at Town Center Mall on Wednesday.

Police were called to the scene just before 2 p.m.

A spokesman for the department said that an officer on the scene approached the man, who had fled into the mall’s parking lot. The fleeing man produced a handgun, and the officer  fired his service weapon. The suspect was hit by gunfire, given medical aid at the scene  and rushed to a hospital in serious condition. He was later pronounced dead.

Police Chief Dan Ferrell said in a statement that the shooting was understandably concerning to the community.

“We are thankful that no police officers were injured and remain committed to transparency and to a thorough, independent review,” Ferrell said. He said their thoughts remain with all involved.

The chief said the investigation has been turned over to the GBI.

Read the GBI statement on the incident by following this link.

The suspect’s name was not released by the Cobb County Police Department pending notification of next of kin.

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.