Two Georgia Police Officers Shot While Responding to Gun Store Burglary, Suspect Fatally Wounded
Two Georgia police officers were hurt after a gunfight with a suspected gun store burglar shortly after midnight on Saturday morning.
Smyrna and Cobb County police responded to a 911 call at 12:16 a.m. about a burglary at the Adventure Outdoors gun store on South Cobb Drive, said Smyrna Police Department Chief Keith Zgonc during an early morning press conference. The massive 80,000-square-foot store and range is approximately 13 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.
When authorities arrived, they discovered a gunman who was inside the store at the time, Zgonc added. The attacker and the officers on the scene exchanged gunfire.
Officers from both the Smyrna and Cobb County police departments returned fire, killing the suspect. His identity has not been disclosed.
Two Smyrna Police Department officers were shot and injured during the incident. They were both taken to a local hospital and are recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.
A SWAT squad was then called in to secure the business and ensure there was no one else inside.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is on the site and is looking into the event, Zgonc said.
Zgonc stated that authorities were unsure whether the man had broken into the store to take weapons. The store was closed at the time.
Cobb County Police Chief Stuart Vanhoozer expressed concern that a suspect would shoot at police, adding that two policemen have been slain in metro Atlanta in recent weeks.
He added there was a big police response due to recent police shootings in the region and the nature of the business, which has approximately 18,000 weapons on hand, according to the company’s website. The business calls itself the “actual largest gun store in the world.”
“We had a lot of officers come and that’s the reason that they came,” Vanhoozer told the crowd.
“I’m angry, it angers me that we have people that want to do this,” Zgonc went on.
“They want to shoot at police officers. They wish to damage us, and it is apparent that the individual involved in this illegal crime required our intervention.”