APD officers shot and killed a 33-year-old driver Thursday on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard after his SUV hit two patrol cars, the GBI said. Its case goes to the DA.

Atlanta police officers shot and killed a man Thursday afternoon on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard in northwest Atlanta, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The GBI is investigating at the Atlanta Police Department’s request. No officers were injured.

The GBI identified the man as Rakeem Deandre James, 33, of Lithonia.

What the GBI said happened

The account below is the GBI’s preliminary information, from its release on the shooting. The agency said:

  • At about 4:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, APD officers were in the 1000 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard to serve an arrest warrant.
  • Officers tried to make a traffic stop on a white SUV. The GBI said James was driving it.
  • He did not stop and drove away from the officers.
  • He backed the SUV into an APD patrol car, then drove forward and repeatedly hit another APD patrol SUV parked in front of him.
  • Officers told him to stop. The GBI said he did not comply.
  • Several officers fired, hitting him several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The release does not say what the arrest warrant was for, whom it named or how many officers fired. It does not name the officers.

What happens next

The GBI said it will conduct an independent investigation. When it is finished, the case file goes to the Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, the Fulton County district attorney, for review.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy.

The investigation is active. The GBI asked anyone with information to call its Atlanta Regional Investigative Office in Conyers at 770-388-5019. Anonymous tips go to the GBI Tipline at 800-597-8477, through its online tip form or the See Something, Send Something app.

What it means for you

  • The GBI, a state agency, is investigating because the Atlanta Police Department asked it to.
  • The GBI has not said when its findings will be released. We will report the outcome when the GBI or the district attorney publishes it.
  • If you saw what happened on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard on Thursday afternoon, the GBI’s Conyers office is the place to call.

The Atlanta Police Department posted its own notice of the shooting, but its website could not be reached when this story was written.

For other police and fire releases, see our Police and Fire log. To ask for a correction, use our contact page.