Holly MatkinAtlanta, GA – A Georgia state trooper was wounded and a rioter was fatally shot during a gun battle Wednesday morning at an encampment erected by protesters at the site of a future police and fire training center.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said law enforcement officers were clearing the encampment on Jan. 18 as part of an “operation to identify people who are trespassing and committing other crimes on the property,” according to FOX News.
Officers were moving through the wooded property at approximately 9 a.m. when they encountered a man inside one of the tents, the GBI said.
Officers gave verbal commands to the man who did not comply and shot a Georgia State Patrol Trooper,” the agency said. “Other law enforcement officers returned fire, hitting the man.”
GBI Director Michael Register later said the gunman opened fire on the trooper “without warning,” FOX News reported.
The trooper returned fire to defend himself, Director Register said.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, FOX News reported.
The injured trooper was evacuated from the area and transported to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
He underwent emergency surgery and has since been stabilized, the GBI said.
His identity was not immediately released.
During a multi-agency operation on Constitution Rd., one person fired shots at law enforcement. Law enforcement fired back. A Georgia State Trooper was hit and taken to the hospital and is in surgery. One man was killed. This is an active investigation. pic.twitter.com/HEg3I2yMEa
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) January 18, 2023
Police have also not publicly identified the suspect.
Investigators said they recovered the suspect’s handgun at the scene, as well as multiple shell casings, FOX News reported.
They arrested four other suspects at the site and took them all to the DeKalb County Jail on pending charges.
“The GBI is working the officer-involved shooting and the investigation is still active and ongoing,” the GBI said.
Marty, the girls, and I are praying for this brave Trooper and public safety officers across all law enforcement agencies today.
As our thoughts remain with him and his family, our resolve also remains steadfast and strong to see criminals brought to justice. https://t.co/ZTS6zcNOCH
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) January 18, 2023
Director Register said the encampment has been an ongoing problem and that the rioters are “endangering the community and the citizens around this area,” FOX News reported.
Rioters called for violence against police in the wake of the shooting, with several groups rallying followers on social media, according to the news outlet.
Stop Cop City
1/21 @ 5pm
Underground ATL pic.twitter.com/HFmzPvOeWw— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) January 19, 2023
A post on the Scenes from the Atlanta Forest Twitter page urged people to participate in a “Night of Rage” on Jan. 20, FOX News reported.
The post encouraged followers to carry out “reciprocal violence” on “police and their allies,” according to the news outlet.
“Consider this a call for reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies,” the post read. “On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade.”
Breaking: Far-left extremists shut down the road in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta to stage a protest over their comrade who was shot dead after first shooting a Georgia state trooper at their autonomous zone. #StopCopCity pic.twitter.com/LzKLxu4sfa
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 19, 2023
The group made a similar post on its website on Wednesday.
“The worst has come to pass. An unnamed forest defender has been shot and killed in Weelaunee,” the call to action read. “Consider this a call for reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies. On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade. Love and rage Defend the Atlanta Forest.”
“DEFEND THE ATLANTA FOREST NIGHT OF RAGE FRIDAY JANUARY 20TH MAKE THEM PAY,” the group reiterated.
Police killed a forest defender today, someone who loved the forest, someone who fought to protect the earth & its inhabitants.
This is why we organize to stop Cop City. And we will. In honor of their life, and the lives of everyone killed and imprisoned by the police.
— Defend the Atlanta Forest (@defendATLforest) January 18, 2023
The group has claimed it is affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest group, which has played a major role in the encampment and the ongoing problems there, FOX News reported.
A joint task force comprised of the GBI, Georgia Attorney General’s Office, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, DeKalb County Police Department, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Department of Natural Resources, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working to combat the occupation of the site and the ongoing illegal activities occurring there, according to the news outlet.
Eight rioters were arrested at the property in May of 2022 after throwing a Molotov cocktail at officers while they were trying to remove them, CNN reported.
Vandals destroyed surveillance cameras in the area a couple months later, then someone fired shots on the technician who showed up to repair them, according to WAGA.
In August of 2022, law enforcement officers were seen standing guard while Georgia Power repaired a damaged transformer at the property.
Police and construction crews had gotten into a confrontation with rioters there earlier in the week, according to WAGA.
Construction equipment at the site went up in flames the following month.
They have made an autonomous zone encampment in the Atlanta forrest to protest the construction of a police training facility. pic.twitter.com/h1h9u1YEEo
— Jim Pacing His Cage 🤦♂️🤞🧨🚁🆓 🐱👤🕊 (@iamisgo11) January 19, 2023
When the task force went to the property on Dec. 13, 2022, to take down some of the barricades the group had set up to block entrances to the site, rioters confronted them and allegedly “threw rocks at police cars and attacked EMTs outside the neighboring fire stations with rocks and bottles,” according to the GBI.
“Task force members used various tactics to arrest individuals who were occupying makeshift treehouses,” the agency said, according to CNN.
The GBI said the task force located “explosive devices, gasoline, and road flairs” while clearing the area, WXIA reported.
The rioters, who have touted themselves as forest defenders, established the encampment to protest the future training facility they refer to as “Cop City,” WXIA reported.
They have had the semi-permanent encampments at the site for approximately one year.
Police ultimately arrested five rioters during the December confrontation, all of whom are now facing domestic terrorism and other charges.
They have been identified as 20-year-old Leonardo Vioselle, 25-year-old Serena Hertel, 25-year-old Nicholas Olson, 22-year-old Francis Carroll, and 22-year-old Arieon Robinson.
Investigators said that at least four of the suspects are from out-of-state.
Hertel is from California, Robinson is from Wisconsin, Olson is from Nebraska, and Carroll is from Maine, according to the GBI.
In addition to the domestic terrorism charges levied against each of the five suspects, Robinson is also facing charges of criminal trespass and obstruction.
Vioselle has been charged with possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
Hertel is facing additional charges of aggravated assault, inciting a riot, obstruction, and criminal trespass, WXIA reported.
Olsen was charged with aggravated assault, interference with government property, and obstruction.
Carroll’s additional charges include aggravated assault, felony obstruction, criminal trespass, interference with government property, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime, WXIA reported.
The GBI said there had been multiple recent clashes between the group and police or other public service personnel at the site prior to the arrests made in December.
“[The Atlanta Police Department] and other agencies had made several arrests over the past few months for the ongoing criminal activity at the site location,” the GBI said, according to WXIA. “Some of the criminal activities include carjacking, various crimes against persons, destruction of property, arson, and attacks against public safety officials. Law enforcement continues to address the criminal acts committed by the individuals that continue to occupy the area of the proposed training site.”
The Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) said it plans to build the $90 million, state-of-the-art complex on 85 acres of the site, and that the remaining 180 acres will remain undeveloped, WXIA reported.
The facility will include a burn building, a mock city, and a shooting range, according to CNN.
The demonstrators argued that the project would destroy one of the largest forested areas of the city, and that the land is historically significant to the Muscogee Creek Native Americans who once lived in the area.
The site was also the location of the Old Prison Farm, where unpaid inmates worked the farmland as a “dignified” means of imprisonment, WXIA reported.
Sandy Malone
