UPDATE: Suspect in Police Shootout Found; School Lockdown Lifted

UPDATED at 12:05 p.m.

Four area schools are no longer on soft lockdown Friday after police arrested a second suspect allegedly involved in the shooting of two DeKalb County Police officers who responded to an armed robbery.

The officers were shot at the Colony Ridge apartment complex near Glenwood Road and Austin Drive in Decatur before 7 a.m. when they were called to a home invasion. A police spokesman said the suspects immediately opened fire on officers, who returned fire.

At a 10:30 a.m. press conference, a police spokesman said officers were searching for at least one suspect; a second suspect was shot and seriously wounded. One officer was shot in the thigh, and one was shot in the calf; both are at Atlanta Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

WSB TV reports the officers were shot by a high-powered rifle.

Late Friday morning, police arrested a second suspect in woods near Dawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Decatur. WSB reports someone called 911 to report seeing a suspect trying to get into a Dumpster. Police converged on the area, sent in a police dog to locate the suspect, and then arrested him. The suspect may have been shot at the apartments, and then fled.

DeKalb County Schools said: “At the request of the DeKalb County Police, the following DeKalb County schools are on lockdown: Columbia High School, Towers High School, Snapfinger Elementary School and DeKalb Preparatory Academy. All students are safe and following their normal class schedule. The lockdown is standard operating procedure when requested by local law enforcement.”

The lockdown ended about noon following the arrest of the second suspect.

A soft lockdown means controlled access to the school, but no interruption to the school day. School officials told WSB that students will likely be released as normal at the end of the day.

DeKalb County swat officers and Georgia State Police were at the scene, the news outlet reported.

An estimated 40 officers from DeKalb County, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol and other agencies have converged on the apartment complex to search for the suspect, WSB reports.

»Patch will update this story as details are released.

»»Screenshot from WSB TV