ATLANTA — Investigators said the person who shot at a retired Fulton County deputy is dead after shooting that deputy in the hand.
It happened around 5 p.m. along Lee Street.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne has learned that the deputy was working off duty when he was flagged down by a group of people while working an off-duty job on Monday afternoon.
“Shortly after being waved down, Lt. (Gerald) Johnson approached an encounter with a perpetrator who had an assault-type rifle. They exchanged gunfire,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter during a Monday night news conference.
The gunman and Johnson were both injured. The shooter later died from their injuries.
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Johnson was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital for their injuries. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed his injuries we non-life-threatening.
“The only thing I heard was a whole lot of gunshots, like 30 shots man. I couldn’t even believe it. It was like out of a movie scene,” one witness told Channel 2’s Tom Regan at the shooting scene.
Labat commended Johnson’s actions, saying he did exactly what he was trained to do.
“He ran towards danger and he did an excellent job,” Labat said.
The sheriff said Johnson began working for the agency in 1993 and retired a few years ago before returning to work part-time.
Atlanta police said they are investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting, but Labat said he believes there was gunfire exchanged inside the Easy Rental on Lee Street.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has also been called in and is investigating the deputy-involved shooting part of this investigation.
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