Smyrna Police shoot, kill man in Maserati at Goodyear (2015, to live)

[ehoez]

COBB COUNTY, Ga. —

A local police officer shot and killed a man in Cobb County Tuesday.

Police said they feared for their lives which led them to open fire on a suspect they were attempting to serve a warrant on.

“When you go to serve a suspect who knows that he is wanted he is unpredictable and we have to react based on his actions, that's what we did today,” Sgt. Ed Cason with the Smyrna Police Department said.

Investigators said Cobb County and Smyrna police went Goodyear Tire to serve an arrest warrant for a probation violation. It happened in a parking lot near Cumberland Parkway and Paces Ferry Road at about 1:30 p.m.

They said the man saw police when they approached his place of work and tried to flee.

Police said officers feared for their life when they said the suspect jumped in a car, tried to get away, and drove at them in the white Maserati.

They have not yet identified the man who died.

The parents of Nicholas Thomas, 24, said their son was the victim in the fatal shooting.

Thomas’ parents were both at the scene Tuesday afternoon and told Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant that police had shot and killed their son.

Police said three Smyrna police officers and four officers with the Cobb County Police Department were at the scene.

"He was a lovable guy,” mother Felicia Thomas said. “He was just a lovable guy. He would do anything for everybody. He was just loved cars. He loved his family. He just had a baby. His baby is not even 5 months old."

Nicolas Thomas' father, Huey Thomas, told Diamant at the scene, "I guess now, I just want to understand what happened, because I hear so often and here it is now. I'm a professional, my wife is a professional and we have a kid that's dead."

It happened across the driveway from a busy Starbucks where witnesses inside took cover as it all unfolded.

“They were standing behind the car, opening fire. He wasn't driving towards them,” Goodyear customer Brittany Eustache said.

Eustache told Channel 2’s Rachel Stockman what happened. She said she watched from inside the store, just feet away.

“The car was not moving when they begin to shoot at him. The car had been stopped he hit curb he could go any further,” she said.

“So at no point was he making any aggressive moves?” Stockman asked her.

“None, none at all. They immediately opened fire on them,” Eustache said.

No police officers were injured. A spokesperson for the Smyrna Police Department said the shooting has already taken an emotional toll on the officers involved.

Thomas’ parents said he was working at the store to pay off fines associated with what they called a traffic warrant.

Police have yet to confirm that. Investigators said they are still trying to figure out how many of the six officers who were at the scene actually opened fire.

[joey86]

I'll wait for more details before I lean towards any conclusion on who is "in the wrong" here. I do think getting the heck out of the way would have been just as likely to prevent him from running them over. On the other hand, if he was trying to run them over they only had a split second to decide what to do.

I'm also wondering how a guy working at a tire shop had a Maserati, what he was on probation for and why there were six cops involved. These thing wouldn't necessarily be deciding factors, but if he was some kind of high profile criminal I could understand the police being a little more on edge. I also think it's incredibly foolish to attempt to flee. He sure wasn't thinking of his daughter when he tried to bolt.

It's sad either way. Everyone involved has families that love them. Innocent people die at the hands of police an innocent cops get slandered in the court of public opinion for protecting themselves. A child just lost her father and those police officers have to live with knowing that they killed a man. Who's to say what really happened?

[bu2]

Originally Posted by joey86

I'll wait for more details before I lean towards any conclusion on who is "in the wrong" here. I do think getting the heck out of the way would have been just as likely to prevent him from running them over. On the other hand, if he was trying to run them over they only had a split second to decide what to do.

I'm also wondering how a guy working at a tire shop had a Maserati, what he was on probation for and why there were six cops involved. These thing wouldn't necessarily be deciding factors, but if he was some kind of high profile criminal I could understand the police being a little more on edge. I also think it's incredibly foolish to attempt to flee. He sure wasn't thinking of his daughter when he tried to bolt.

It's sad either way. Everyone involved has families that love them. Innocent people die at the hands of police an innocent cops get slandered in the court of public opinion for protecting themselves. A child just lost her father and those police officers have to live with knowing that they killed a man. Who's to say what really happened?

None of this in your 2nd paragraph makes any sense. There's got to be a lot more to this story.

[kasuga888]

The car may have belong to a customer of the tire shop

[UKWildcat1981]

Where is Al Sharpton?

[joey86]

Originally Posted by bu2

None of this in your 2nd paragraph makes any sense. There's got to be a lot more to this story.

I'm not sure what you don't understand nor do I feel like debating. I agree that there is more to the story.

[joey86]

Originally Posted by kasuga888

The car may have belong to a customer of the tire shop

Good point. I'm still curious what he was on probation for and why he would try to flee. Note that the witness said the car wasn't moving because he hit the curb. He very well could have been attempting to run them over and only failed because of this.

If that's the case I don't think we should judge the cops too harshly for not ceasing fire as soon as he hit the curb. I'm not saying that isn't what they should have done, but that if you don't want to get shot trying to kill a cop isn't a very wise decision.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by joey86

I'm not sure what you don't understand nor do I feel like debating. I agree that there is more to the story.

I'm not debating. I'm agreeing with you that there was a lot of stuff that was odd.

[SAAN]

If this dude didnt try to flee, he would still be alive. So his other option was just get by the cops and be involved in a high speed chase in hopes of getting away and possibly kill others.

If I were surrounded by police and see cops behind and in front of me with guns drawn, im going to stop, as it is 100% common sense. Its sad this dude had to loose his life over some charge where he would have been out of jail probably the next day with the way the justice system works now adays.

[joey86]

Originally Posted by bu2

I'm not debating. I'm agreeing with you that there was a lot of stuff that was odd.

Dang. Apologies.