DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. – A Georgia State Patrol trooper was shot and the protester who shot him was shot and killed during a raid on the site of a proposed Atlanta Police Department training facility on Wednesday, the Bureau of Investigation said. Georgia.
Officials said the soldier was in the intensive care unit and undergoing surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital. He was shot in the pelvis and was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the incident.
GBI Director Mike Register said several agencies were conducting a raid near the proposed facility when someone started shooting at them without warning. The officer was shot and officers returned fire in self-defense, according to the GBI.
Register said officers had no choice but to protect themselves.
The man who shot the soldier was shot and killed by law enforcement. The shooter’s identity has not been released.
The GBI says the action was to remove protesters who were at the facility illegally.
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“We would just like to ask everyone’s thoughts and prayers for his family at this difficult time,” said GSP Col. Chris Wright.
A Channel 2 Action news a photographer on the scene saw officers with their weapons drawn and trained in the woods. At least four people have been arrested, according to the GBI.
Register said building the training center is a great thing for the city, but he supports the right to protest, even though he thinks protesters have crossed the line several times.
“They are endangering the community and the citizens in this area,” Register said.
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Protesters disagree with the way the GBI is describing this incident, recounting Channel 2’s Tom Jones that the protest was peaceful.
The facility, which protesters dubbed “Cop City,” was controversial to many.
Protesters say the facility would be bad for the community and the environment. The proposed facility would occupy an 85-acre parcel off Key Road in metro Atlanta’s largest urban forest.
Last month, protesters had to be forcibly removed from trees in the area of the planned facility.
The GBI says the investigation is ongoing.
There was still a heavy police presence outside the planned facility early Wednesday evening.
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Trooper in operation after shooting near proposed public safety training facility
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