Image 1 of 18 ▼

An Atlanta police officer was forced to open fire when a man tried to hit the officer with a car early Thursday morning.

It happened outside a supermarket in 1000 block of McDaniel Street in southwest Atlanta shortly after midnight.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said it started with a 911 call about a drug situation. Investigators said the officers came in contact with two people, one who ran from the scene while other got into a vehicle. At some point, investigators said the suspect may have hit one of the Atlanta police officers with the vehicle forcing the officers to open fire.

The GBI said a silver Cadillac was involved and was located after the shooting; however, the suspect who was driving it remains at large. Investigators said there was some blood in the driver's seat, leading them to believe the suspect was hit by the gunfire or injured.


Investigators said the officer struck by the vehicle was okay.

An employee at the supermarket said he heard about seven or eight shots fired, then watched the whole thing from his cameras inside the store. He said the man in question went in to buy an energy drink before the shooting happened.

Atlanta Police Major Celeste Murphy told FOX 5's Portia Bruner she has received several complaints about drug sales at the store and in the area immediately around it.

"The most concern that I'm hearing about is drug activity. So that's a little bit covert, but it's nothing that we cannot tackle. What's important to me is that the community feels safe and I'm going to do what I can to work with to feel safer and make sure to show more presence in the area, a little bit more visibility. My officers are going to do some details with my crime suppression unit to make sure that we're addressing their specific needs," said Major Murphy.

The GBI was called in to assist the Atlanta Police Department.