According to the ACCPD and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Athens-Clarke County police officers killed a man who shot at them at a gas station on Lexington Road early Sunday morning.
Police responded to a 911 call about 1:20 a.m. Sunday reporting a man brandishing a “machine gun.” They found the man inside a Verizon store near the corner of Lexington and Gaines School Road. He ran across the street to the parking lot of a nearby QuikTrip.
Officers pursuing the man ordered him to drop the weapon, but he turned and fired at the officers, according to the GBI. Two officers returned fire, striking the man, later identified as Marquavious Sims, 26, of Athens. Sims was treated at the scene and then taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. None of the officers were injured.
As with all police-involved shootings, the GBI will investigate the shooting and turn over evidence to District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, who will decide whether to prosecute the officers.
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