2 Officers Down.. DeKalb County Georgia

[Philodox]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15059600/detail.html

Horrible.. just horrible.. my thoughts and prayers to their families

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- Two DeKalb County police officers were shot and killed early Wednesday morning at a Glenwood Road apartment complex.

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The officers reportedly were off-duty, but in uniform working as security guards at the Glenwood Garden Apartments at 4371 Glenwood Road. Police said it appears they were checking out reports of a suspicious person at the apartments just after 12:30 a.m. when they were shot. Neither officer drew their weapon, according to investigators.

Police think at least two gunmen attacked the officers.

"They were ambushed," DeKalb Police Chief Terrell Bolton said during a news conference near the scene of the shootings. "I have never seen such brutality."

A tow truck driver called police to the scene around 12:40 a.m. and the arriving officers found the two officers down, according to Bolton

One of the officers died at the scene, the other on the way to the hospital and was declared dead at Grady Memorial Hospital, according to police officials.

The names of the officers have not been released.

Bolton said they were in their late 20s to early 30s and said they both were like sons to him.

He said one had two years experience and the other had four years.

Officers at the scene told WSB-TV Channel 2's Tiffani Reynolds that one of the officers has four children under 12-years-old.

Bolton is urging the suspects to turn themselves in.

"We're hurting right now," Bolton said. "But we'll get through this. We'll deal with it and we'll apprehend them."

More than 50 officers, including the DeKalb County SWAT team responded to the area.

A command center has been set up at a shopping center in the 4,000 block of Glenwood Road.

Commuters are advised to stay out of the area as police searching for the gunmen shut down some roads.

Schools in the area will be on lockdown during the police search. Those schools include: Columbia High, Towers High, Snapfinger Elementary, Atherton Elementary and Glenhaven Elementary. Exterior doors at the schools will be locked and movement in and out of the buildings will be closely monitored.

The schools will be on lockdown until they receive an "all clear" message from DeKalb Police.

Some school buses will be rerouted during the search for the suspects.

Police have scheduled a 1:00 p.m. news conference at the scene of the shootings.

Bolton advised the men who shot the officers to turn themselves in. He said during a pre-dawn news conference, "The sun's coming up. Before sundown, we're gonna find you."

Check back with wsbtv.com for more on this developing story.

[valycop]

Thoughts and prayers go out to the officers, their families and the men and women of the DeKalb County Police Department. :(

[Aussie George]

Thoughts and prayers to all invovled.

[hubb017]

We discussed this in briefing this morning. It's terrible.

My thoughts and prayers for friends and family as well.

[jmac_52]

:( Prayers to the family and friends.

[chewy]

:mad:

I'm starting to tell everyone at the range to stay alert no matter what. The number of Officers being shot and/or killed over the last year has sky rocketed and it's important for everyone, reguardless of what kind of LEO you are to make sure you are extra vigilent this year. More and more cops are getting attacked on "routine" or non-threatening type calls and encounters. We all, as a community, need to pay more attention and stay on a hightened alertness at work and off duty to hopefully stop this increasing trend. It's not just hardened criminals and high speed chases that result in gun play anymore. With the lax punishment our system provides and the fact that the B/G's can do anything with little consequenses but we risk our jobs if we touch anyone the criminal's have gone friggin crazy. Pay attention, be prepared and stay alive!

[Roger Dat]

Rest in peace brothers. Make no mistake scumbags we WILL find you.


Thoughts and prayers to the families and brother officers.

[Wolfman]

Sorry to hear that, thoughts and prayers to the family and family-in-blue of those officers.

+1 to Chewy for a well put warning that is 100% truth.

I hope that their department catches up with those SOBs

[magicman]

Thoughts and prayers being sent. I pray they find the person or people responsible for this heinous crime and that justice is serviced. RIP officers.

[topofthecop]

Prayers sent for all. RIP

[sparty]

Thoughts and prayers sent.

[Norm357]

***BREAKING***

WSBTV.COM is reporting that an arrest has been made. Details to follow.

[sparty]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,323385,00.html


Georgia Police Arrest Suspect in Killing of Two Officers

Wednesday, January 16, 2008


DECATUR, Ga. —

Police Officers Ricky Bryant Jr. and Eric Barker were making extra money off duty by patrolling an apartment complex, looking out for homeless people breaking into empty units.
They were gunned down early Wednesday morning at the Glenwood Gardens apartments, where residents say drugs and prostitution are rampant. Some of the residents were awakened by the gunfire but initially thought little of it.

Click here for more from MyFOXAtlanta.com.

"We always hear shooting," Patreka Anderson said. "I didn't think that was any big deal."

Bryant and Barker, both married fathers of four, were investigating a suspicious person when they were shot shortly after midnight, said their boss, DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton.

He didn't provide details about the shooting or say whether the officers returned fire, but said they were in their police uniforms and suggested they had been ambushed.

"They never had a chance," Bolton said.

One officer died at the scene; the other was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police arrested a 32-year-old man later Wednesday and charged him with murder, said Officer Jonathan Ware, a DeKalb County police spokesman. Authorities were still looking for suspects Wednesday night, he said.

Ware said he did not have details on what led investigators to arrest Herbie Deshawn Durham hours later, other than "hard police work." He said authorities had received cooperation from the public, including residents of the apartment complex.

It was not immediately clear whether Durham had an attorney.

Police used dogs and a helicopter to search for the suspects, and schools were locked down during the investigation in the area about 6 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

At an afternoon news conference, Bolton called the shootings a "must-solve crime" and urged witnesses to come forward.

"Don't lie to us," he said. "Tell us the truth."

A $55,000 reward was offered for information leading to arrests in the case, county officials said.

"These police officers were heroes, they were committed and dedicated to law enforcement," DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones said. "We will not rest until those folks responsible for this are apprehended and justice is served."

Teofil Taut, who said he has owned the 176-unit complex for about two years and lives in one of the buildings, said he hired police as part-time security officers in December to keep homeless people from breaking in.

Another resident, nurse's assistant LaShawn Corbin, said she is considering moving, even if it means paying more for an apartment.

"We don't expect the people who try to protect us to be hurt so seriously," she said. Corbin said she would fear leaving her children there "because the person who did it has no conscience for human life."

Bryant, 26, was a two-year veteran of the department, and Barker, 33, had worked there for four years.

"It's a challenging day for us," Bolton said. "However, today's act of senseless violence is a display of what we're seeing around the country where people will shoot down a police officer without regard to any repercussions."

[deputywave]

Thoughts and prayers sent. RIP brothers.

[MP_Steve]

It's sad reading things like this. Such a tragedy... :(