GBI Investigates Officer Involved Shooting in Atlanta

UPDATE:

Atlanta, GA (January 25, 2022) - The man involved in this OIS has been identified as Bobby Lee Sutton, age 59.

ORIGINAL RELEASE:

Atlanta, GA (January 23, 2022) – The GBI is investigating an officer involved shooting in Atlanta, GA, involving a Fulton County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The Atlanta Police Department asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation on Sunday, January 23, 2022. One man was shot and has died. The deputy sustained a minor injury.

Preliminary information indicates that just before midnight, a Fulton County Sheriff’s Office deputy was returning home from work when he received a Ring camera notification that showed a man breaking into his home on Springside Drive, SE, in Atlanta. When he arrived home, he saw the man from the video walking away from the home carrying tools and other items. The deputy was driving his personal car and was still wearing his uniform and equipment. The deputy followed the man as he walked away along an unpaved, gravel road. The man stepped off the road into some woods as the deputy approached. The deputy got out of his car and found the man in the woods. While in the woods, the deputy and man had an altercation and during this time, the deputy shot the man. Atlanta Police Department officers responding to a 911 call found the deputy performing CPR on the man. The man was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital where he later died. The deputy suffered a minor ankle injury. The backdoor of the deputy’s home had been kicked in and the items found in the woods had been taken from his home.

The identity of the man is pending next of kin notification.

The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, it will be turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review.