Trooper wounded in shooting undergoes another surgery

ATLANTA, Ga. — The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) trooper that was shot while trying to remove protesters from the site of a proposed Atlanta police training facility will undergo another surgery.

Channel 2′s Richard Elliott spoke with the head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and GSP Thursday about the trooper and the investigation.

GSP commander Col. Chris Wright said the trooper remains in the intensive care unit and is stable, but will undergo another surgery today.

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Elliott spoke with Wright at the state capitol about the moment he got the call that one of his troopers was wounded in the line of duty.

“Of course, when I got the call yesterday, it was, you know, it’s a big lump in your throat,” Wright said. “Because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, and you don’t know the condition of your officer is.”

The still unidentified trooper was part of a larger operation to clear illegal protesters from the woods inside the proposed site for the facility.

Investigators say as they tried to remove the demonstrators, one shot the trooper.

Other law enforcement officials returned fire, killing the gunman, identified as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26.

Demonstrators accused law enforcement of causing the aggression.

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“Overnight last night, he was able to write a short note to the doctor to tell him he was having difficulty breathing,” Wright said. “He’s scheduled for another surgery today.”

Elliott also spoke with GBI director Mike Register at the capitol.

Register says they’re working with local, state, and federal partners to investigate what happened and the people behind it.

Register says there’s a big difference between protesting and what happened Wednesday morning.

“The GBI embraces every individual’s right to protest, but when you start creating, when you start doing criminal activity that has the potential of harming the community and citizens, that’s where we have to draw the line,” Register said.

Wright is asking the public for their thoughts and prayers for the trooper’s recovery.

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