Man with knife shot by off-duty GSP trooper in Grant Park, police say

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says an off-duty Georgia State Patrol trooper shot a man armed with a knife at a Grant Park BP station Saturday.

Police initially told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden that the man was armed with a gun, but have since clarified that it was a knife.

The GBI said that around 5:22 p.m., an off-duty trooper was getting gas at the BP on Boulevard SE when a man chased another man into the gas station.

Witnesses told the trooper that the suspect was armed with a knife and attempted to stab the other man.

The trooper followed the men inside, where he told the man to drop the knife.

The trooper left the store, and the man with the knife followed him.

“The man continued to move towards the trooper and failed to comply with commands to drop the knife,” the GBI said in a a statement. “The trooper fired his gun, striking the man.”

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The suspect was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he is critical condition.

A knife was recovered from the scene.

No officers were injured. The GBI will conduct an independent investigation.

Neighbors were stunned at the events that unfolded.

“This never happened out here before. I lived out here, so to see this this is kind of new me,” one man said. “To hear there was some kind of shooting out here going on that’s kind of crazy.”