A massive police presence swarmed the northern Sandy Springs area Thursday morning after officers fatally shot a man who pulled a weapon, according to authorities.
Officers were dispatched just after 10:30 a.m. to the area of Roswell Road and Dunwoody Place when a 911 caller reported that a man had assaulted her while she was walking her dog, Sandy Springs police and the GBI said in separate statements. That intersection, which was blocked off for hours during the investigation, is south of the Chattahoochee River near the border of Roswell.
When police arrived, they spoke with a suspect who then “pulled a weapon on the officers” and was shot, police spokesperson Leon Millholland confirmed. The GBI clarified that the suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband.
The man was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died. He was identified by the GBI as 27-year-old LaAndre Marktanne Thomas of Jackson, Mississippi. Officials did not say why he was in the area.
No officers were injured in the shooting. Police said the incident was captured on the officers’ body cameras.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Darius Kartuah said he was at Mister’s Barbershop off Dunwoody Place when he saw officers stop a man walking near a Bank of America in the 8700 block of Roswell Road.
“Next thing you know, the three officers pulled back, drew the weapons, and they shot him,” Kartuah told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The GBI was requested to investigate the shooting by Sandy Springs police. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform the autopsy.
Local detectives will continue to work the original assault call, Millholland said prior to the suspect dying. He couldn’t elaborate on the woman’s injuries.
While the crime scene was active, drivers were unable to turn onto Dunwoody Place because it was completely blocked to the Publix in the Dunwoody Place Shopping Center, but traffic was still flowing on Roswell Road.
“There is no danger to the public. The issue has been handled and the investigation is ongoing,” Millholland told reporters near the scene not long after the shooting.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
This is the second police shooting in Sandy Springs in less than two months.
About a mile away on Oct. 14, Herbert Mesa, 56, of Atlanta, was firing shots inside a Carroll Manor Drive home when officers arrived after a report of gunfire, according to investigators. Mesa’s friends had just been there to do a wellness check on him. Mesa allegedly fired at officers, who shot back. He survived, and one officer was grazed in the thumb by a bullet, according to the GBI.
After being treated for his injuries, Mesa was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault against a police officer and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Fulton County jail records show. He was released Nov. 15 on $90,000 bond.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens and photographer Ben Hendren contributed to this article.
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