Roswell police shot and killed a man Tuesday who allegedly charged them with an “edged weapon” after the man was suspected of using the same weapon in an attempt to stab a MARTA bus driver, authorities said.
The shooting was one of three such incidents involving law enforcement across the state, according to the GBI. The two other shootings took place earlier in Bartow and Berrien counties.
The state agency announced that the suspect in the Roswell incident died after he was taken to the hospital. His name is being withheld until his next of kin can be notified, the GBI said.
No officers were hurt during the confrontation, and the bus driver escaped without injury as well, according to MARTA police.
The incident began on a MARTA bus in the 10000 block of Alpharetta Highway on Tuesday just before 2 p.m., Roswell police said. The man allegedly became irate when asked to pay his bus fare and attacked the driver, a MARTA police spokeswoman said.
After the encounter, the bus driver felt comfortable enough to continue driving their route, MARTA police said.
When officers arrived, they found the suspect in the area still carrying the same weapon, according to Roswell police. The man charged at the officers and at least one fired on the suspect and hit him, police said.
The GBI later said the man was carrying scissors.
Photos from the scene showed a Roswell police cruiser parked on the sidewalk with its driver’s door open, the vehicle encircled in caution tape. Safety cones surrounded what appeared to be scattered clothing and a military-style backpack. Officials have not said how the police SUV was involved in the incident.
Alpharetta Highway will be closed for “the next several hours” between Houze Way and Mansell Road, Roswell police said.
The Roswell Police Department has asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting, and all further updates will be released by the state agency.
The shooting in Roswell was just one of three such shootings the GBI was asked investigate Tuesday.
The first happened at the end of a domestic incident in Adairsville that began late Monday night, the GBI said.
James Lee Rourks, 42, was shot and injured after a confrontation with police at his home, according to the state agency.
Adairsville police first responded to Rourks’ home after a woman called 911 and abruptly hung up, the GBI said. Rourks then called 911 from the same number and told the operator that everything was fine, per the state agency.
Officers arrived at the home on Barnsley Village Drive and spoke to a woman who said Rourks had a gun, the GBI said. Rourks allegedly went inside the house and refused to comply with officers at the scene. Police then called the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office to assist with a possible barricaded gunman and, when deputies arrived, they entered the house and confronted Rourks.
One of the deputies shot Rourks and he was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the GBI said. Rourks has been charged with aggravated assault, strangulation and interfering with a 911 call, according to the state agency.
The second law enforcement shooting of the day involved the Georgia State Patrol and resulted in no injuries.
According to the GBI, the incident began when a state trooper tried to pull over 53-year-old Roy Kyle Mathis in Berrien County. Mathis refused to stop and the trooper chased him, eventually stopping him momentarily with a PIT maneuver, the GBI said. The trooper tried to get Mathis out of his car, but Mathis drove toward him and the trooper fired a shot at the approaching vehicle, the GBI said.
The shot did not hit Mathis, who continued driving and turned down a dirt road and crashed into a tree in the yard of a private home, according to the GBI. The trooper used a Taser on Mathis while getting him out of the car, and the suspect was evaluated at the hospital before being booked into the Berrien jail, the state agency said.
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