A man who was shot by Gainesville Police Monday after allegedly approaching officers with a knife remains in critical condition at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
The shooting happened Monday, September 30, around 6:07 p.m. Preliminary information indicates Hall County 911 received a call about a pedestrian hit by a vehicle on West Avenue. Witnesses told investigators the man appeared to be impaired and was stumbling down the middle of West Avenue when a slow-moving truck attempted to go around him. The man walked into the truck and feel down from the impact, the GBI says. The man got up and walked away from the accident.
The Gainesville Fire Department responded and followed him into a wooded lot to assess his injuries. “The subject produced a knife and pointed it at fire department personnel. The fire department personnel backed out and called for assistance,” says GBI Director of Public Affairs Nelly Miles.
Two Gainesville Police officers responded to the scene. “The subject was given multiple verbal commands to drop the knife. The subject then moved towards the officers brandishing the knife, at which time one officer discharged his weapon multiple times,” Miles says. She says the second officer shot the man with a Taser.
The man was transported to the hospital where he underwent surgery. No one else was injured in the incident.
The GBI is investigating the shooting, which is standard procedure. Miles says once the investigation’s complete it will be turned over to the Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
This is the 65th officer-involved shooting investigation that the GBI has been requested to investigate in 2019 and the second in Gainesville in two weeks.
On September 20, two Gainesville Police officers shot and killed a 21-year-old Oakwood man after a 911 caller reported he was waving a gun around. Investigators say the man, later identified as Adam English, did not comply with their verbal commands to drop the weapon. A video shot by a passerby appears to show English with his back turned to the officers as they approach him with their guns drawn. Moments later, shots ring out.
The Gainesville Police Chief identified the officers involved in that shooting as Jonathan Fowler and Jose Hernandez. They are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
