Officers wounded after shooting at each other in Gwinnett
By ANDRIA SIMMONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/01/08
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metr...ge_tab_newstabGwinnett County investigators say two off-duty police officers -- one from Fulton County, the other from Duluth -- got into a gunfight in on a quiet suburban street Friday afternoon.
The Fulton officer suffered non-life threatening injuries, but Illana Spellman, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County police, said she didn't how badly the Duluth officer was hurt. The Duluth officer was "the aggressor" and will be charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, Spellman said.
The Fulton officer was wearing his police uniform and driving a marked car to his home in Gwinnett county when he stopped about 1 p.m. on Level Creek road to help a woman pedestrian who flagged him down, Spellman said.
Spellman didn't provide details about what happened next, but the Fulton officer ended up up trading gunfire with the Duluth police officer, who was wearing street clothes.
Both men were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center. Police didn't release their identities.
Richard Santry, who lives nearby, said his wife was driving to work when a woman beside the road yelled for help. Santry said his wife stopped to help and was shocked when a man jumped out from behind a vehicle. Gunshots were fired and she hit the ground and called 911, Santry said.
Duluth Police Chief Randy Belcher, contacted late Friday at the police station, said he'd just visited the Duluth officer at the hospital but could not comment on the case. Belcher said the Duluth police would conduct their own investigation of the shooting.
Fulton County police declined comment Friday.
The shooting unnerved many residents who moved to Sugar Hill to enjoy suburban tranquility.
Anthony Reed said his aunt, Mildred Reed, 78, witnessed some of the shooting from her kitchen window. Anthony Reed said she reported seeing a car come down Level Creek Road, turn around in the parking lot of Liberty Baptist Church, go back the opposite direction, run off the road and strike a fire hydrant. Anthony Reed said a man got out of the car and shooting began a few minutes later.
"The city has come to the country," Anthony Reed said.
Sandra McKee, who lives in the neighborhood, said people in the neighborhood often exercise on the two-lane Level Creek Road.
"Can you imagine if one of us had been out walking," she said. "This is really creepy."
The shooting happened about a mile from North Gwinnett High but had no immediate effect on the school, said district spokeswoman Sloan Roach.
"We were aware that there was a shooting," Roach said. "We contacted police and asked if any of our schools needed to go in lockdown and we were told they didn't."
This is the second time in less than a month that police officers have been shot in Gwinnett County.
Two Gwinnett County police officers, Sgt. Michael P. McKeithan and Cpl. William M. Hoch, were wounded Jan. 3 while serving warrants at a house in Suwanee. Police said William "Bill" Caram, 37, barricaded himself inside the house and held off police for 14 hours before fatally shooting himself in an upstairs closet.
Both those officers are recovering from their wounds. The Jan. 3 shooting occurred about a mile from the Friday shooting.
