Two officers from a Georgia police department are being investigated after they shot-dead a knife-wielding man who urged them to ‘just kill me’ during a heart-stopping stand-off.

Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer David Harrison and Officer Charles Bidinger responded to a 911 call regarding a man – later identified to be Aaron Hong, 23 – clutching a butcher's knife and causing a disturbance at the River Club Apartments, in Athens.

According to Harrison and Bidinger, when they arrived a bloodied Hong appeared to be using the knife in an aggressive way and harming himself with the blade.

When the officers approached, he began advancing towards them with the blade in his hand and can be seen repeatedly refusing to comply with their demands to ‘Drop the knife!’ and ‘Stop!’, in footage captured by their body cameras.

Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer David Harrison (left) and Officer Charles Bidinger (right) responded to a 911 call on Monday regarding a man – later identified to be Aaron Hong, 23 – clutching a butcher's knife and causing a disturbance at the River Club Apartments

According to Harrison and Bidinger, when they arrived a bloodied Hong appeared to be using the knife in an aggressive way and harming himself with the blade

When the officers approached Hong, he began advancing towards them with the blade in his hand and can be seen repeatedly refusing to comply with their demands to ‘drop the knife’ and ‘stop’ (pictured: Hong throws his blade towards Harrison and begins charging at him)

Hong can be heard calling out ‘Do it!’ several times to the officers, goading them to shoot him in what appears to be an attempt to commit suicide by cop.

As Hong continues to advance, both of the officers walk backwards in tandem, pointing their guns at the suspect the entire time as they back-step their way up the River Club driveway, all the way to the to the Macon Highway.

With Harrison crying out ‘Please put the knife down. Don’t do this,’ Hong suddenly charges at the noticeably panicked officer, prompting him to fire seven shots which down the 23-year-old momentarily before he springs back up to his feet, blood-soaked.

‘Shoot me,’ Hong yells, before charging at Harrison again, grabbing him by the shoulders and appearing to reach for the officer’s gun.

‘He’s going for my gun’ Harrison yells, as Bidinger rings out four more shots over his head.

Hong drops back down to the ground but this time falls silent and does not get back up.

Hong suddenly charges at the noticeably panicked officer, prompting him to fire seven shots which down the 23-year-old momentarily before he springs back up to his feet, blood-soaked

‘Shoot me,’ Hong yells, before charging at Harrison again, grabbing him by the shoulders and appearing to reach for the officer’s gun

‘He’s going for my gun’ Harrison yells, as four more shoots ring out over his head, which had been fired by Bidinger

Paramedics immediately began treating Hong but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Harrison suffered minor injuries and was treated by EMTs, Bidinger was unharmed.

Both the officers have been placed on administrative leave, pending investigations from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Western Circuit District Attorney’s Office

Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill says he expects the two officers will be cleared of any unlawful conduct during a news conference on Tuesday.

In review of both of the officers’ body cameras, Spruill said the officers appeared to be in imminent threat of injury or death and expected the two men to be cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

Harrison is a seven-year veteran of Athens-Clark Police Department, meanwhile Bidinger is in his first year of service.

This is the second fatal shooting Bidinger has been involved in during his time with the department. In March he was one of seven officers responsible for the fatal shooting of a convicted felon holding what was later determined to be a replica handgun.

Hong drops back down to the ground but this time falls silent and does not get back up. He was pronounced dead the scene shortly afterwards

But Spruill said that while Bidinger had been involved in two shootings in quick succession, he and the other six officers had been cleared of all charged by the GBI.

‘No one wants to take the life of an individual,’ Spruill said. ‘[Bidinger is] concerned and upset that it happened twice in such a short time period, but I think you saw what he was confronted with.

‘The body-worn camera video evidence that I have seen and I that I’ve shared with you today, suggests that the officers reasonably feared for their lives and for their safety, and used deadly force to defend themselves.’

Spruill expressed his condolences for Hongs family and friends, urging the public to keep them in their thoughts along with the two officers.

The Chief added that despite the video being graphic in its nature, the department decided to publicly release the footage to aide transparency and the show the dangers that police officers are forced to face every day.