DeKalb County

Police K9 shot during 'suspicious person' call in Stone Mountain; suspect dead

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities are investigating a shooting that left a police K-9 injured and a suspect dead in Stone Mountain.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes rushed to the scene just after 1 p.m. on North Hairston Road where police were swarming.

Police told Fernandes this started when someone called police and reported some suspicious activity going on at a store along the road.

A witness, who didn’t want to be identified, said when police arrived, they confronted a man standing in front of the store – and then things got chaotic very quick.

“The police rolled up on him and he drawed his gun out at the police, and when he did that, you know you did wrong, he took off running and next thing you know police was all out here,” the witness said.

One woman said she had just left the Quick Stop Food Mart when she heard several gunshots. She became caught in the middle of a shootout between police and the suspect.

“I had to jump across the divider here in order to get away to keep from getting shot in the middle of all of it – and yeah its scary,” said Wanda Wallace.

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The suspect then ran through some woods into the Hairston Lakes apartment complex. That’s where a witness recorded video of a second shootout.

We counted at least 13 shots fired in the video.

A Police K9 named Django was hit and was taken into surgery where he’s recovering.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed police shot the 26-year-old suspect, who later died.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting.

The shooting happened near a senior community where at least 13 shots were fired – and some of the elderly tenants said they’re too scared to stay there.