MILTON, Ga. — A woman shot by a Milton Police officer in the parking lot of a Walmart after allegedly hitting the officer with a stolen vehicle trying to get away has died of her injuries at the hospital on Friday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
The woman was identified by the GBI as 31-year-old Shantidra Harris of Atlanta. The police officer was released from North Fulton Hospital in Alpharetta, where the department said he was treated for minor injuries.
The incident all unfolded Friday afternoon around 12:15 p.m. in the parking lot at the Walmart store located at 5200 Windward Parkway, police said.
In a Friday afternoon press conference, Milton Police Lieutenant Andrew Noblett said officers responded to a Kohl's just down the street from the Walmart on Highway 9 for a reported shoplifting. The three suspects left the scene in a red Dodge Journey SUV with a temporary license plate, Noblett said.
When officers responded, they found the suspect's vehicle. The suspect hit another car, and then officers lost sight of the SUV for a moment but saw it again in the Walmart parking lot. When officers pulled up, only one person was inside the suspect's vehicle. Police said a woman was taken into custody in the parking lot.
A second suspect, identified as Harris, allegedly got out of the Dodge SUV and carjacked another driver's vehicle in the parking lot, a white Toyota Corolla. The GBI said that a Milton Police officer was in front of the vehicle when Harris "quickly accelerated" the stolen car and hit the officer head-on. The GBI said the officer fired his weapon after he was hit, hitting Harris with gunfire.
Harris was taken to North Fulton Hospital, where she died from her injuries on Friday night.
A third suspect remains at large, but Noblett said they are not a danger to the community.
An employee at a nearby McDonald's told 11Alive she saw a driver hit another vehicle. She said she heard officers yelling for someone to get on the ground and then heard gunshots.
"I was just scared because I just never heard gunshots in real life before," he said. "I was just like, 'What am I going to do?'"
Her mother came to pick her up after the situation unfolded.
The police department said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called to the scene and are now leading the investigation.