Recruit shoots back.
Is a computer really worth your life?
Police recruit fatally shoots would-be robber, 14
By TIM EBERLY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/09/08
An Atlanta police recruit shot and killed a teen boy who tried to rob him at gunpoint early Saturday, authorities said.
The 14-year-old allegedly had confronted the recruit while he was in his vehicle in the parking lot of the Parkside Crossing apartments, in the 4200 block of Jonesboro Road in Forest Park.
Forest Park police Lt. Amy Wright said the teen suffered more than one gunshot wound and died. She would not reveal the boy’s name, saying she was not sure all his relatives had been notified, but said he lived on Fisher Road in Atlanta.
Wright also did not release the name or age of the police recruit, but she described him as a younger officer who recently got out of the U.S. Marine Corps, is attending Atlanta's police academy and lives at Parkside Crossing.
The shooting occurred at 12:15 a.m. The recruit was sitting in his personal vehicle, logged onto his laptop computer because the apartment complex offers free wireless Internet service, Wright said.
He heard a tap on his driver's side window and looked up to see the boy standing outside his car. The youth allegedly had a shotgun pointed at the recruit's face.
The boy said something the man did not understand, but the recruit believed the teen wanted his laptop, Wright said.
The recruit could not roll down his window because it was broken, so he began opening the door, she said. As he stood up, he grabbed a handgun that he had at his side and used the laptop to hide the weapon.
The recruit then opened fire on the robber, killing him, Wright said. The would-be victim spotted a second male nearby who apparently was a lookout. That individual ran away and was being sought by police Saturday evening.
Forest Park police found a set of keys on the dead boy for a vehicle that was parked outside the gated complex. The car had been stolen from East Point, Wright said.
The shooting appeared to be in self-defense and no charges were pending against the police recruit, Wright said.
Police recruit shoots back.
Linear Mode
