Child, 5, Injured In Douglas Co. Police Shooting In ATL: GBI

ATLANTA, GA — A 5-year-old girl was injured Sunday after a Douglas County deputy shot at a car being hijacked at a Fulton Industrial Boulevard gas station, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

The GBI said the incident began Sunday when Dallas Police arrested Rashauny Mike Palmer, 25, and charged him on suspicion of aggravated assault and kidnapping.

After being handcuffed and placed in the backseat of the patrol car, the GBI said Palmer managed to escape custody and proceeded to drive away in his Dodge Charger.

A be on the lookout was then issued for Palmer, and a Douglas County deputy then found the Charger traveling on Interstate 20 east, the GBI said.

The deputy tried to stop Palmer, but the GBI said Palmer refused. The deputy then conducted a PIT maneuver on the Charger, but the GBI said Palmer continued to drive.

The Charger then crashed into a tractor trailer before resting at the bottom of the Fulton Industrial exit ramp, the GBI said.

Palmer was accused of running to a nearby gas station, where he was accused of trying to carjack a BMW at a gas pump. Two adults and a child were inside of the car at the time, the GBI said.

The deputy then shot at the BMW, and the child was hit, the GBI said. The child was taken to a hospital for her injuries, the GBI said. Her status was unknown Wednesday.

The GBI said the Douglas County Sheriff's Office arrested Palmer. Douglas County Jail records show Palmer remained incarcerated without bond Wednesday.

The sheriff's office said Tuesday the deputy, who has not been identified, was attempting "to stop the commission of a forcible felony" at the time of the shooting.

"During the incident, a small child, who was a passenger in the vehicle being carjacked, was hit by what appeared to be a small ricocheting fragment from one of the officer’s rounds. The child was immediately provided with medical attention from our deputies and then transported to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The child's family has retained civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers, Fox 5 Atlanta reported Wednesday.

The family attorneys are requesting the deputy's dismissal from the sheriff's office, the news outlet reported.

"As a father, I can’t imagine what these parents are going through," Sellers said in the Fox 5 report. "We’re talking about an innocent little girl whose life is never going to be the same because the deputy who should have been protecting her shot her instead. If that doesn’t make you sick to your stomach, then nothing will."

Per the GBI, Palmer is facing charges from the following agencies:

Dallas Police

• Obstruction of law enforcement officers
• Criminal attempt to commit murder
• Battery - intentionally causes substantial physical harm or visible bodily harm to another
• Battery-family violence
• False imprisonment- family violence
• Aggravated assault with intent to rape/murder/rob
• Terroristic threats
• Kidnapping- family violence
• Escape
• Possession of firearm or knife during commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies
• Reckless conduct
• Theft by taking

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

• Felony fleeing and attempting to elude

GBI

• Second-degree hijacking a motor vehicle
• Cruelty to children
• Obstruction

Once complete, the GBI case file will be given to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review.