Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Fulton County officials in Georgia are investigating a shooting that left a 22-year veteran officer dead late Tuesday night.

The officer was shot during an ambush while responding to a shots fired call with his colleague shortly after midnight. Neighbors in the Fairburn neighborhood claim the suspect was shooting in his own home before knocking on their doors with a long barrel gun.

When police arrived on the scene, the suspect shot the veteran cop in the head. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. The suspect was also wounded and transported to a local hospital. Another officer involved in the shooting was shot in his duty belt, shattering his radio.

According to 11 Alive:

“I got a call tonight that every police chief dreads and prays never happens,” Fulton police Chief Cassandra Jones said from outside Grady Memorial Hospital. “I got a call that I had lost one of my officers.”

“It was dark and it was foggy,” Fulton police Assistant Chief Gary Stiles told Channel 2. “They were doing their job, trying to protect this neighborhood from somebody that was shooting, and the way it appears to me, they were ambushed without warning.”

Alfred Printup, who was on the phone with his wife during the incident, says he heard the gunshots through the phone.

“Once I left the area, I called my wife to let her know there was a gunman loose in our neighborhood, and as I was talking to her, we heard the gunfire going off,” Printup said. “We heard about three volleys of rounds going off at different times. I just want to thank that police officer who gave his life to keep my family safe.”

The suspect reportedly had a history of drunken arrests.

Four officers have died in Fulton County since its formation in 1975. The veteran officer was the first to die in the line of duty since 2003.

SOURCE: 11 Alive | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty 

SEE ALSO: 

Obama Reacts To Revenge Shooting Of Cops, While Political Firestorm Brews