MABLETON, Ga. – A man trying to flee from a traffic stop in a box truck was shot and killed by police at a Mableton gas station on Friday afternoon.
At around 3 p.m., officers attempted to pull over the driver of a box truck in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station along Old Floyd Road at Fontaine Road. According to the Cobb County Police Department, the truck was displaying a stolen license plate.
The driver, attempting to flee from the officers, struck a bystander’s vehicle and a patrol car, causing the box truck to catch fire. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze.
“The suspect attempted to flee from the traffic stop subsequently striking a vehicle, a citizen’s vehicle, in addition to several marked patrol cars,” said Cobb County Police Sgt. Eric Smith.
At some point, officers opened fire on the driver, striking him at least once. Medics rushed him to Wellstar Cobb Medical Center, where he died.
“During the incident, officers fired, the driver of the vehicle was struck,” said Sgt. Smith.
“The truck just kept going back and forth, back and forth trying to escape,” said Alexis Rivera.
“There was a lot of smoke, it covered most of the gas station,” Rivera added.
A number of people were inside the store at the time and heard gun shots.
“Everyone was running around; I ran to my car too!” said Aaron Rodriguez.
“Thank God nothing worse happened,” said Albelis Hacks.
The driver’s identity is not known.
No officers or bystanders were injured.
SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene shortly after 3 p.m. and saw three police vehicles surrounding the burned-out box truck.
The officers involved were placed on routine administrative leave.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate the officer-involved shooting.
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