NBC News
A female suspect was fatally shot by
Atlanta police after exchanging gunfire with two officers — from the
back of their patrol car, which was across from the precinct, police
said Thursday.
The two male officers
were investigating reports of a stolen car Thursday evening when they
found the suspect in the missing vehicle at a parking deck across from a
police precinct in downtown Atlanta, Police Spokesman Sgt. Gregory Lyon
told NBC News.
The suspect — later
identified as 25-year-old Alexia Christian — was detained and placed in
back of a patrol car, where she pulled out a handgun and shot at the
officers twice, according to NBC affiliate WXIA. The officers returned fire and struck the suspect.
Christian was taken to a local hospital where she died of her injuries.
Lyon said it was too
early in the investigation to definitively say what happened, but he did
note that sometimes male officers don't do comprehensive pat-downs on
female suspects — and he didn't know where the weapon had been stashed
on her.
Neither officer was injured during the exchange. Lyon said Christian and both officers are African American.
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