ROSWELL, Ga.—A bulletproof vest saved a SWAT police officer’s life just before he returned fire and killed a fleeing man Friday in an Atlanta suburb, the police chief said.
A SWAT team in Roswell was serving arrest and search warrants when a man ran out the back of a house and encountered an officer, said Police Chief James Conroy at a news conference. The fleeing man fired a handgun, twice striking the officer in the chest, before the officer shot back and killed the man, Conroy said.
The chief said the officer was hit by shrapnel but protected from more serious wounds by his bulletproof vest.
“It appears the vest has saved his life, but he did suffer injuries from the incident,” Conroy said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now leading the inquiry into the shooting by the officer, as is typical in Georgia.
Officers came to the house looking to arrest a man accused of firing a gun into the air on New Year’s Eve after being asked to leave a party. Conroy said that after officers investigated, they found the man had a violent criminal history.
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That’s when police decided to call in the SWAT team jointly operated by four cities in northern Fulton County to serve warrants, Conroy said. Those were for reckless conduct, firing a gun on someone else’s property and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.
Conroy couldn’t confirm that the man who died was the person police were trying to arrest. He said the four other adults in the house were cooperating with police.
Conroy declined to identify the wounded officer or say which police department he worked for.
