Security officers fatally shoot 22 people since January 1st
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. Feb 2 2018 – A club security officer shot and killed a clubgoer who police said threatened him with a gun.
An employee told a WSBTV reporter that the club was already closed and they had removed all of the customers before the shooting.
Only workers and dancers were inside the club around 4:30 a.m.
When the customer was turned away from the front door while trying to get inside, the employee said he became angry.
Police said the customer told the security guard he was going back to his car to get his gun and would return.
When he made good on that threat, police said, the security officer pulled his own gun and shot and killed the man.
Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators collected what looked like more than a half-dozen shell casings and the two handguns at the scene.
Police have now said that they have determined that the shooting by the security officer was justified and he won’t be charged.
Three days earlier, in another Atlanta metro suburb, a College Park Georgia security officer shot and killed a man there during an altercation.
The shooting occurred at the Backstage nightclub.
Major Lance Patterson said that in that incident, the suspect and another person were kicked out of the club after an altercation.
That’s when the suspect allegedly went to his car to retrieve a gun.
Investigators say the suspect began firing at the venue and into the air and two security officers fired back. The suspect was hit in the head and across his body.
The gunman was taken to the hospital and authorities now say that the man has died.
Police are still investigating that shooting.
Nationwide, private security officers have been involved in twenty two fatal shootings since January 1st.
