Henry County

Deadly officer shooting sparks false shooting report at racing company

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A deadly officer-involved shooting caused some unintended panic at a metro Atlanta business.

Channel 2's Dave Huddleston was the only reporter at the Summit Racing store as the business was evacuated Friday afternoon. He was racing to the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Locust Grove when he was diverted to the store in McDonough after reports of an active shooter. Officers said they thought the two cases were connected and evacuated the building. It turned out it was a false alarm.

Dozens of employees were evacuated from the building as dozens of McDonough police, SWAT and Henry County deputies, many of them with long guns, searched the building looking for an active shooter.

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Emergency crews even deployed a drone to search the warehouse-sized store, looking for a suspect. However, officers on the scene told Huddleston that senior management said someone called a friend at Summit to tell them about the officer-involved shooting, and that information was interpreted as some was shooting inside the store.

After a complete search, employees and customers were allowed to go back inside.

Huddleston tried to talk with employees, but instead were told to contact the corporate office. They a statement saying:

“We can report that our customers and employees are safe and accounted for. Despite first reports, they were never in any danger. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured officers.

Our thanks go to Henry County and City of McDonough officers for their quick response.”