Armed man killed, three officers wounded in Atlanta street altercation, police say

ATLANTA (AP) — Three Atlanta police officers were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after an altercation that left a suspect dead Saturday evening, authorities said.

Officers responded at 5:15 p.m. to a report of an armed man in a commercial area on Fairbanks Street and encountered a man with a handgun and a knife on Desoto Avenue, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news conference.

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

The police department did not immediately identity the deceased man. Police did not believe anyone else was involved, Schierbaum said.

The three officers were transported in police patrol vehicles to Grady Memorial Hospital. One officer was shot in the shoulder, another was shot in the leg and the third suffered a grazing wound. Two of the officers were expected to undergo surgery, Schierbaum said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will lead the probe into the shooting, he said.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said he spoke with the officers at the hospital and they were “alert, conscious and breathing.”

“Once again you see that guns are causing harm in our communities,” Dickens said during the news conference outside the hospital, noting he and other officials were headed to a fundraiser for the police department when they were informed about the shooting.