Georgia police exchanged gunfire with a suspect during a stand-off at a gun store near Atlanta, Georgia, on the morning of Tuesday, July 19.
Responding to a burglary report, police cars arrived on the scene and surrounded a Deercreek Gun Store in Marietta about 4 a.m.
Officers noticed movement on top of and and inside the business, after which two suspects were found on the roof and arrested. One of the suspects suffered a slight injury after jumping off the roof.
A third suspect exchanged gunfire with police, but was taken into custody. Nobody was wounded by gunfire.
“One officer returned fire but no suspects or officers were injured in the exchange,” Marietta police Officer Brittany Wallace told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A fourth suspect emerged from an adjoining building with his hands up at 7:20 a.m.
WSBTV’s Audrey Washington later confirmed that the fourth man was not involved in the robbery and was released from custody.
A SWAT team was called in to help look for an additional suspect inside the store at 8 a.m. Police later verified that there wasn’t a fifth suspect.
Wallace told the Associated Press that there wasn’t any indication that the suspects were trying to lure police with the motive of ambushing them. Officers were noted as taking precaution by shielding themselves behind an armored vehicle following the recent shootings targeting law enforcement in the nation.
Store owners and siblings James Rabun and Sarah Rabun told the Atlanta Journal-constitution their store may have been targeted because it was small.
They said they are happy that officers weren’t hurt in the standoff.
“We wanted [the police officers] to do whatever they needed to do to stay safe,” Sarah Rabun said.
