Gainesville, Georgia: Officer Shoots Man Who Opened Fire During Domestic Call at Shopping Center

A man is in critical condition after a Gainesville police officer shot him multiple times on Thursday, November 12, behind a shopping center on Jesse Jewell Parkway, police said.

Gainesville police officers answered a 911 call about a domestic disturbance at the New Holland Market shopping center, on Jesse Jewell Parkway Southeast. Captain Kevin Holbrook said officers found a man and a woman in what looked like a physical altercation near the rear of the center, AccessNorthGA reported.

Police said the man opened fire on an officer as officers arrived. The officer returned fire and hit the man several times, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Emergency crews took the man to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

The officer was also taken to a hospital, for medical evaluation and observation. Police have not said whether the officer was hit or injured in the exchange.

What police have not released

Police have not released the name or age of the man who was shot, and they have not identified the officer who fired. They have not said whether the woman in the disturbance was hurt, or what led to the 911 call at the shopping center.

Officers stayed at the scene on Thursday while the investigation continued. The Gainesville Police Department has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to lead the investigation into the shooting. In Georgia, local departments routinely hand officer shooting investigations to the GBI so that an outside agency reviews the use of force and reports its findings to prosecutors.

Jesse Jewell Parkway is one of Gainesville's main commercial roads, lined with stores and restaurants on the southeast side of the Hall County city. The New Holland Market center sits along that corridor, and the shooting happened in the rear of the center, away from the storefronts facing the parkway.

No charges had been announced on Thursday night. The GBI investigation will establish the order of events, including who fired first and how many shots were fired, and its findings will go to the local district attorney. Police asked anyone with information to contact the department.

This is the second officer shooting in the metro Atlanta area tied to a domestic call this month. On November 1, two DeKalb County officers were shot and wounded while responding to a domestic incident on Bouldercrest Road in Atlanta, and the man accused of shooting them was wounded by return fire, according to the GBI. That case is separate from the Gainesville shooting.