3 Atlanta police officers shot after responding to call about armed man

Three Atlanta police officers responding to a call Saturday evening about an armed man were shot and wounded, authorities said. The suspect died during the encounter.

The situation unfolded at about 5:15 p.m. local time when officers were dispatched to a 911 call in Atlanta’s Capitol View neighborhood for “a man armed with a weapon who the caller felt was a threat to the community,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told reporters in a news briefing.

The officers arrived at the scene to find a suspect armed with a handgun and knife, Schierbaum said.

“During that encounter, there was a struggle, there was gunfire that resulted in three of our officers being injured,” Schierbaum said. “It also resulted in the death of the individual that was armed with the handgun.”

The officers were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. One suffered a shoulder wound, one sustained a leg wound, and the third had a “graze wound,” Schierbaum disclosed. Two of the three are undergoing surgery.

“They are alive and stable, they are alert, conscious and breathing,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in the news conference outside the hospital.

Schierbaum said two of the wounded officers are 31-years-old, both of whom are four-year department veterans, and the third is a 28-years-old who has been with the department for five months.

It’s unclear exactly where the shooting occurred or what led up to it. Schierbaum said the officers were initially called to a commercial area.

The names of the officers were not immediately released. The suspect’s name was also not provided.

Per department policy with all officer-involved shootings, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate, Schierbaum said.