BUFORD, Ga.—One person was stabbed Friday and an officer shot the suspect at the Mall of Georgia outside Atlanta, police said.
The incident began when a suspected thief began smashing jewelry counters inside the Macy’s store at the mall, authorities said. The suspect then stabbed a store employee who tried to stop him and he fled, police said.
Gwinnett County Police spotted the suspect as he was fleeing the scene in a grey pickup truck, Sgt. Jennifer Richter, a police spokeswoman, said in a news release. One officer tried to ram the vehicle to stop it and the suspect got out, attempting to run on foot, and an officer fired his weapon, hitting the suspect at least once, she said.
Richter said the victim is hospitalized with severe injuries. The suspect, identified as Jose Reyes-Serrato, 27, of Loganville, was in stable condition, she said.
“Our officers moved decisively to stop the suspect in that moment because this is a high traffic area and Reyes posed an immediate threat to the safety of the public,” she said.
