ATLANTA — An Atlanta police officer was shot on Monday while responding to someone in a mental health crisis.
Officials said at the city council meeting Monday that Ofc. Devante Matthews, 30, was out of the hospital.
Channel 2 Action News was at a news conference on Monday morning where Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum laid out how the incident unfolded.
Around 8:41 a.m., an officer went to the home along Clark Howard Lane SW, where police said Michael Gates, 24, was having a mental health crisis.
“We had about five cops fly by us, and as we were making our turn we saw them jump out with machine guns,” witness Randy Sears told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes.
Schierbaum said officers have responded to this home multiple times and that Gates suffers from schizophrenia and is bipolar.
“That was completely shocking to hear that an officer was shot because he’s never shown me any signs of aggression or things like that. So, to hear that was distressing,” the shooter’s sister Monique White said.
Police said Gates started firing at the officers when they arrived, and Matthews was hit in the right arm.
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Schierbaum praised all the responding officers who were able to de-escalate the situation and take Gates into custody.
He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. He was met by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
“Chief Schierbaum and I were able to shake his hand and were able to tell him he’s gonna be OK. He was emotional, as you can imagine. Probably just shaken up a whole lot and in pain,” Dickens said.
As for Gates, he was taken to Atlanta police headquarters for questioning, and Schierbaum said he will be charged accordingly.
Ofc. Matthews joined the police department in Sept. 2019.
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