WOODSTOCK, Ga. — Police say a man is in the hospital after officers shot him in a retention pond near Paden and Maple streets in Woodstock. Officers say he threatened to shoot anyone who came near him.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Woodstock police got a call about a suspicious person around 6:48 p.m. on Oct. 22. When they arrived, they found the man, later identified as 38-year-old Nijm Scott from Roswell, in the pond.
Investigators say Scott told officers he was going to start shooting and then made a sudden move, so officers fired at him.
After the shooting, officers pulled Scott out of the water. The Woodstock and Cherokee fire departments treated him at the scene, and he was taken to a hospital. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says he is in stable condition.
Two officers were also hurt while helping Scott, but police say their injuries are not life-threatening. They are expected to be OK.
Neighbors say the scene was chaotic. Jay Jackson said she saw the man acting strangely around the pond about half an hour before the shooting.
“This was a nightmare, actually, all night. It was a night,” Jackson said.
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She said it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him in the pond. Jackson said she watched him crawling around, urinating on the grass, and then jumping into the water.
“He was crawling like this, and then he went all the way around. He urinated on the grass, and I was going to yell, ‘Don’t be an idiot.’ Then the next thing I know, he jumps over the rail, and he jumps in the water. I say, ‘Oh, you really are an idiot,’” Jackson said.
She said he swam in the pond and then got back out.
A few minutes later, neighbors heard gunshots.
Kent Fluke told Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb that he had his windows open and knew right away what he was hearing.
“Eight to 10 in succession right below my window. Boom, boom, boom,” Fluke said.
“I was like, ‘Is there some active shooter on the trail?’ It’s just so odd. Trail — people are coming and going. You don’t hear gunshots,” Fluke said.
Police say they were called to the pond after reports that the man was walking the trail and yelling that he was going to shoot somebody. Officers say he told them he had a gun.
Witnesses told Channel 2 Action News that after the shots, the streets filled with blue lights and officers quickly pulled the man from the water.
Police say Scott was already wanted in Gwinnett County for terroristic threats. Now, he faces more charges in Woodstock, including felony terroristic threats and obstruction.
The GBI says the investigation is still active, and more details will be released soon.