ATLANTA — Atlanta police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating why a traffic officer shot a driver who wouldn't obey his commands.
It happened near the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta Saturday night.
"We know the officer was at the intersection. The vehicle proceeded in his direction (and) for whatever reason the officer fired a shot," Sgt. Warren Pickard with the Atlanta Police Department said. "We hope that the facts reveal exactly what happened."
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday as the off-duty officer was directing traffic along Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard near the Georgia Dome.
A preliminary report by the GBI said the officer, who APD confirmed was in uniform and wearing a traffic vest, was directing traffic when a white Ford F 350 van approached the intersection.
The report said the driver, a 46-year-old man from North Carolina, ignored traffic directions and drove toward the officer.
And that is when the officer opened fire.
"The officer pulled his service weapon (and) fired one shot into vehicle, striking the driver," Pickard told Channel 2’s Nefertiti Jaquez.
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The van continued down Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard about a half-mile before coming to a stop behind the Georgia Aquarium.
The other passengers were unharmed but looked shaken as they talked to investigators.
The driver was rushed to the hospital but has since been released.
The officer has been on the force since July 2007. He's now on paid administrative leave. We’ve learned the officer is a supervisor in the field operations division
"We will let the facts of the investigation reveal themselves. In time, we will have all of those answers," Pickard said.
We're told the officer is field operations supervisor and an 11-year veteran. .