Midtown Pedestrian Robbery Results in Arrests; APD Officer Narrowly Avoids Being Shot

Great smarts, technology, and good fortune were all part of a Monday morning pedestrian robbery that ended well but could have gone tragically wrong, as an APD officer narrowly escaped being shot at close range by a robbery suspect.

Public Affairs Officer Kim Jones released information about this pedestrian robbery that occurred during the early Monday morning hours.

According to Jones, the two victims at 1:52 a.m., "were robbed at gunpoint on Juniper Street and 8th Street."  Officer P. White responded to the call and started the search for 4 black males that stole their "wallets, phones, and credit cards, and fled the scene in a vehicle."

Officer White was able to track the stolen items, via a cell phone presumably, to a Texaco Food Mart at Northside Drive and McDaniel Street, where multiple units were called in to make an arrest. 

According to the police narrative, this is where things could have gone tragically wrong, but did not:

The four suspects were located but two (of them) were among the customers inside the Texaco food mart. 

One of the suspects intentionally came towards police and asked, "What is going on?" as he was armed with a stolen pistol. 

The suspect pulled the weapon and attempted to shoot one of the supervisors on scene. The gun did not fire because the round was defective.  A brief struggle took place. 

All 4 suspects were identified and placed in custody. One stolen gun was recovered.

No one was hurt in this incident. Officer Jones said, "one round was fired by APD during the incident when the suspect was attempting to shoot one of the supervisor’s but no one was hit. There was no damage."

The 2 individuals who were robbed, were able to retrieve all of their stolen items, including credit cards and ID. 

All 4 suspects were transported to Fulton County Jail and charged with 2 counts of Armed Robbery each, along with other charges that have not been detailed yet.

The attempted shooting of the officer, reminds us of a case a few weeks ago in the West End, where an officer was shot in the face and badly injured while on duty.