ATLANTA, Ga. — An aspiring Atlanta Police officer, who was halfway through the police academy, died Tuesday morning when the motorcycle on which he was riding crashed into car at the intersection of Moreland Avenue and McDonough Boulevard in southeast Atlanta.
At the time, Moses Russ, 24, was en route to the Atlanta Police Training Center.
“We are grieving at the Atlanta Police Department. We lost a member of the family today, and there is a family spread throughout Georgia who lost a loved one as well. I join the mayor in asking for everyone’s prayers, for the family and this police department,” said Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
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Schierbaum said that two employees of the Atlanta Police Training Center, who also were on the way to work, spotted the crash and stopped to render aid to the police recruit and the driver of the vehicle.
The recruit was declared dead after arriving at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens joined the police chief and other law officers to support loved ones at the hospital.
“So many others were at the hospital to grieve with them for the tragic loss of one of their own,” Dickens said.
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Russ was in his 16th week of training at the police academy. During the summer, he provided security support for police officers at FIFA World Cup events.
Before his journey to become a police officer, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard and worked as a corrections officer.
“The department will mourn, but will continue to serve on his behalf,” Schierbaum said.
The name of driver involved in the crash was not released. Police said she wasn’t injured, and the cause of the accident is under investigation.
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