Fairburn Officer Shoots Two Dogs, Injures Bystander While Returning Woman Home, GBI Says

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating after a Fairburn police officer fired at two dogs and also struck a man while officers were returning a woman to her home early Thursday.

The officer-involved shooting occurred shortly after midnight Sept. 24 near the border of the South Fulton and Fairburn police jurisdictions.

According to preliminary information from the GBI, officers were dispatched at approximately 12:20 a.m. after someone reported a woman sitting in the roadway.

Two Fairburn Police Department officers were the first to arrive and spoke with the woman. She provided officers with her home address, which was nearby, and the officers drove her to a residence in the 300 block of Bishop Road in Fairburn.

When the officers and woman arrived at the home, two dogs charged toward the officers, according to the GBI.

One of the Fairburn officers fired toward the dogs, striking both animals. Gunfire also struck a man who lived at the residence.

The man was transported to an area hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

Neither officer was injured.

The GBI did not identify the injured man or the officer who fired. The agency also did not provide information about the condition of the two dogs or specify how many shots were fired.

Although the residence has a Fairburn address, the GBI said the shooting occurred within the South Fulton Police Department’s jurisdiction. South Fulton police requested that the GBI investigate the officer-involved shooting.

Anyone with information can contact the GBI’s Atlanta Regional Investigative Office in Conyers at 770-388-5019 or submit an anonymous tip through the GBI Tip Line at 800-597-8477.