DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Two DeKalb County Police Department officers who were shot while responding to a domestic incident on Wednesday are both at home and recovering, the department said.
DKPD indicated both had left Grady Hospital, where they were bought after being shot, by Thursday and were at home for Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday, the two officers -- identified as Sgt. Matthews and Ofc. Howell -- responded to a home on Waldrop Cove after the 911 center got an "open line" call where, Chief Mirtha Ramos explained, a call comes in with no one on the other end, but they could hear arguing in the background.
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The officers were then dispatched to the location, where they encountered a mom who said her son was behaving aggressively and "causing a dispute" with her and another person there. The officers went into the apartment and approached a bedroom door when the man fired shots, and both officers were struck, according to police.
Sgt. Matthew was shot in the leg or perhaps upper hip, Chief Ramos described and Ofc. Howell was shot in the foot. The chief said Sgt. Matthews, even after being shot in the leg, gave pursuit of the suspect and helped take him into custody after he jumped out of a window.
Ramos said Sgt. Matthews' pursuit of the suspect, despite being shot in the leg, "demonstrates the bravery that our officers need to display every day."
Police later identified the suspect as 20-year-old Demetrius Sutherland. He was taken to the DeKalb County Jail.
Matthews, 34, has been with DeKalb Police for 11 years, while 35-year-old Howell has worked for the department for four years.
Howell was first released on Wednesday night and Matthews was released the following day.