Man shot lifeless throughout battle over officer’s gun in Buckhead restaurant, cops say – The Atlanta Journal Structure
An off-duty Atlanta police officer shot and killed a Lithonia man Wednesday afternoon at a well-liked Buckhead restaurant throughout an “prolonged battle” over the officer’s gun that lasted a number of minutes, officers stated.
The GBI is investigating the lethal taking pictures, which occurred shortly earlier than 3 p.m. on the Roasters Rotisserie restaurant at 2770 Lenox Street in northeast Atlanta.
Police confirmed that the officer, whose identification was not launched, was in uniform and sporting his physique digicam whereas working an accepted job at a close-by enterprise when he was referred to as to the restaurant within the Lenox Village procuring heart.
In response to the GBI, Rogers Kyaruzi, 30, had been “expressing odd habits previous to the incident and had adopted a patron into Roasters the place Kyaruzi was inflicting a disturbance.” The officer tried to get Kyaruzi to step exterior, the GBI stated.
“There was some dialogue happening after which instantly there was a battle,” Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said from the scene. “The battle concerned the officers’ gun; the battle went on for a number of minutes.”
That battle ended with the officer taking pictures Kyaruzi, who died after being taken to a hospital, Hampton stated. One witness informed Channel 2 Motion Information the person was shot a number of instances. He could possibly be seen in video being handled by first responders whereas en path to an ambulance.
The officer, who was not injured, was taken to APD headquarters for interviews.
Wednesday’s incident was the forty fifth officer-involved taking pictures the GBI has been requested to research this yr. Twenty-three of these Georgia shootings have been deadly.
The Atlanta Police Division has been concerned in six to date this yr, 4 of which have been lethal. It’s the third officer-involved taking pictures for the division since April 16.
In January, the Atlanta Metropolis Council voted to ascertain a activity power targeted on curbing crime in Buckhead. The upscale group has a decrease crime fee than a lot of the remainder of the town and police officers stated Zone 2, which incorporates Buckhead, noticed one of many steepest declines in crime final yr of all six police zones in Atlanta.
Crime was, nevertheless, one of many driving forces behind Buckhead’s cityhood push earlier this yr.
The brand new activity power is charged with growing a complete plan to discourage crime within the space, working to get buy-ins from companies, neighborhood associations, residents in residences and condos and different stakeholders like church buildings and nonprofits.
The Atlanta Journal-Structure additionally tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t contain the GBI, and people numbers generally differ from the GBI’s tally.
— Employees author J.D. Capelouto contributed to this text.
Concerning the Writer
Matt Bruce is a reporter for the breaking information crew. He may be reached through e mail at Matt.Bruce@ajc.com.