COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office says a man is dead after he shot at police, running from a traffic stop.
Family members identified the man as Michael Johnson, 21. %
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Deputies say Johnson opened fire on Coweta deputies after a traffic stop in which they say Johnson ran from them.
Channel 2’s Nicole Carr emotions were running high as Johnson’s family showed up to the scene after learning he had been killed.
"He gone to a bullet. A bullet. He gone to a bullet," sister Mina Johnson said behind tears.
Maj. Tony Grant said a deputy recognized Johnson and pulled him over along Bullboro Road in Newnan.
At some point during that traffic stop, Johnson ran from the car.
“The officer commanded him to stop at which he turned and fired six rounds at the officer, hitting the officer's vehicle in the passenger's side five times,” Grant said.
All the while, Johnson had unidentified passengers looking on from the red car he was in.
“A baby was in the back seat and a female was in the front,” Grant said.
Deputies say one officer took cover as Johnson started shooting while others ran across the street after the 21-year-old.
"He was cornered, commanded to stop at which time he fired again at the officers at which they returned fire," Grant said.
The young father was killed near a wood line bordering a Toyota car dealership. Investigators say the original traffic stop was tied back to active forgery warrants.
"Don't make sense," Grant told Carr.
Johnson's baby's mother and sister agree.
"What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?” Mina Johnson said.
No officers were injured in this shooting and chase. Neither were the baby and woman who were passengers in Johnson’s car.
As of late Wednesday night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was still processing the crime scene.
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