BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — A man accused of threatening employees and cussing at a hotel guest ended up being the center of an officer use-of-force incident minutes later Monday afternoon.
It all started inside the Hilton Garden Inn off I-285 on Lake Hearn Drive in the city of Brookhaven. 11Alive talked to an employee who said when she clocked in Monday afternoon, the man was already in the lobby.
She said she didn't think much of it and just thought he was a guest hanging out waiting for the bar to open. The employee said the man bought a beer from the shop in the lobby.
In a video shared by the employee who called 911, a man is drinking a beer and using profanity. The employee identified a second man in the video as a manager of the hotel.
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"He (suspect) comes in, chilling, like I said listening to Gospel music, singing it, after the liquor hit, it went left, it was crazy," the employee explained. 11Alive is not naming them as the employee feared retaliation.
She said eventually the manager got the man outside where he continued to run but escalated into threats.
"'I'll blow your head off. Fight me right now,' like he was going crazy," the employee explained.
It wasn't until things started escalating that employees realized this man was not a guest and asked him to leave.
The employee said even after they got him outside and secured their building, he continued to use profanities.
"He walked around the parking lot a few times, he cussed out of my guests," the employee explained.
During all of this, the employee called 911 and was waiting on Brookhaven Police.
Brookhaven Police Lt. Jacob Kissel said as officers were responding to the hotel, one officer spotted a man matching the suspect's description walking down Ashford Dunwoody Road less than a mile from the hotel.
The officer stopped and engaged with the man in the 4000 block of Ashford Dunwoody Road.
"During the investigation, the subject began actively resisting and the officer attempted to subdue him. The confrontation continued and the officer did discharge his firearm," Kissel said.
An SUV in front of the home had its passenger side window shattered by a bullet. Shell casings could be seen on top of the vehicle. It's unclear how many shots were fired by the officer. There were multiple evidence markers on the scene.
Kissel said because no one was hurt in the shooting they did not request the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to respond to the scene and investigate. While it's not required in Georgia, in most officer-involved shootings, the GBI is requested to independently investigate the shooting.
On Monday night Kissel said, "A firearm believed to belong to the subject has been recovered."
It was not said if the suspect at any point aimed the weapon at the officer or if he went to grab his weapon during the scuffle.
Kissel said a Taser was also used during the attempt to arrest the suspect but said it was 'ineffective.'
The suspect has not been identified and police didn't say what charges he could be facing.
Brookhaven Police said this is the second shooting involving an officer within the city.