Opinion
11-year Atlanta police veteran shot while trying to arrest gang member
An 11-year veteran officer of the Atlanta Police Division was shot Monday whereas executing an arrest warrant in opposition to a recognized gang member, in line with authorities.
Officer David Rodgers, who has been with the division since 2011, was pursuing 22-year-old suspect Christian Eppinger, needed for an October 2021 aggravated assault and theft, at an condominium complicated on Outdated Hapeville Highway on Monday round 1:15 p.m.
“He can have an extended highway of restoration earlier than him,” Deputy Chief Darin Schierbaum stated throughout a Monday press briefing. “…What occurred right now is the problem that we’re in opposition to right here in Atlanta and in cities throughout this nation, the place people are closely armed … and are launched into our communities. It causes hurt to law enforcement officials, who’re being assaulted at file ranges throughout the nation and positioned in communities with imminent hurt.”
Atlanta PD Officer David Rodgers (Atlanta PD)
“However this division won’t be deterred. We’ll proceed to face within the hole. We’ll proceed to apprehend these people and convey them to court docket in order that they are often correctly adjudicated,” he continued.
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Whereas Rodgers tried to apprehend Eppinger, the suspect brandished a handgun and allegedly shot Rodgers a number of instances. Rodgers sustained severe accidents and was transported to a close-by hospital, police stated.
“This perpetrator was a recognized gang member,” Schierbaum stated.
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Eppinger then fled into the condominium complicated, the place police positioned and arrested him “briefly order,” in line with Schierbaum.
Residence complicated close to Outdated Hapeville Highway in Atlanta, Georgia (Google Maps)
Rodgers, who was a part of a unit searching for needed felons, is significantly injured however stays in steady situation at Grady Well being System in Atlanta.
Eppinger’s warrant stems from an October 2021 incident wherein he and one other suspect approached sufferer Darius Smith in a park and demanded he hand over his “chain,” in line with an Oct. 12 police report.
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“The sufferer acknowledged that one suspect had his firearm pointed in opposition to his head whereas the opposite had his weapon pointed in opposition to his ribs. The suspects then stole his diamond earrings, diamond and gold necklace, two iPhones, and his automobile keys” earlier than fleeing, the police report states.
The suspect was dealing with fees of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon, aggravated theft, cruelty to kids within the third diploma, legal injury to property, fleeing, hijacking a motorcar, interference with authorities property, possession of a firearm throughout fee, working a pink gentle, driving on the mistaken aspect of the highway and willful obstruction of regulation enforcement in 2016, in line with Fulton County data.
Atlanta police automobile on watch. (Getty Pictures)
The suspect was launched in December 2021, data present.
He now faces a number of extra fees, together with aggravated assault with intent to kill and legal try to commit homicide.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is conducting an unbiased investigation into the incident, the company stated in a Tuesday assertion.
To date in 2022, six law enforcement officials have been fatally shot on the job, in line with the Officer Down Memorial Web page, which tracks officer line-of-duty deaths. Extra law enforcement officials have been feloniously killed in 2021 than any earlier yr since 1995.
