Atlanta, Georgia: Police Shoot and Kill Driver During Warrant Service on Boone Boulevard

A driver is dead after Atlanta police opened fire on Thursday in the 1100 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW, where officers had gone to serve a warrant in a domestic violence and aggravated assault case, police said.

The shooting happened Thursday afternoon near Troy Street in the Hunter Hills neighborhood of northwest Atlanta. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the investigation centered on a property not far from the MARTA bus stop at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Mayson Turner Road.

What police say happened

A police spokesperson told WSB-TV that officers were at the location to serve the warrant when the man named in it jumped into a car being driven by someone else. Police said the car tried to ram an officer's vehicle. An officer discharged his weapon and killed the driver, WSB-TV reported.

Atlanta News First reported that the person the warrant was issued for got into the car with the driver and tried to flee, hitting a patrol vehicle, and that more than one officer was involved in the response. Police have not said in the reports published so far how many officers fired.

Channel 2 reporter Tyisha Fernandes, reporting from the scene for WSB-TV, saw officers put up crime scene tape and a body covered by a sheet near a car. Police asked the public to stay clear of the area and said there was no immediate threat.

The warrant subject is still at large

The driver who was killed was not the person named in the warrant, according to the police account given to WSB-TV. The original subject of the warrant is still at large, police said.

Police have not officially released the driver's name in the reports published so far, and this article does not publish a name until officials release it and more than one outlet carries it. Police also have not released the name of the man named in the warrant.

What is not yet known

In its first report on Thursday evening, FOX 5 said police had not confirmed whether any officers or civilians were injured beyond the shooting itself, had not said what led up to the gunfire in detail, and had not announced any arrests. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told FOX 5 at that stage that it had not been requested to assist in the investigation.

The investigation is active and ongoing, police said. Officers remained on the scene in the 1100 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard into Thursday evening, and drivers in the Hunter Hills area were asked to avoid the block while investigators worked.