EAST POINT — A College Park Police Officer was hospitalized after a shootout in East Point Saturday morning.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, preliminary information indicates that at abnout 11:45 a.m. Saturday, College Park police officers were alerted, via a license plate reader, to a vehicle associated with a murder investigation that occurred in Clayton County on Friday, April 3.
Officers followed the suspect vehicle from College Park into East Point where they attempted to stop the vehicle. According to the GBI, the driver of the vehicle, identified as 33-year-old Edward Lee Cherry exited his vehicle and shot at the officers. Two of the officers fired during the encounter.
A third officer was shot in the neck. He was transported to Atlanta Medical Center where he is in stable condition.
After the shooting, Cherry got back into his vehicle and left the scene. Georgia State Patrol troopers, College Park police officers, and Hapeville Police Department officers pursued Cherry to the 1200 block of Virginia Avenue in Atlanta, where police say he wrecked his vehicle and was subsequently arrested.
According to the GBI, handgun was found at the wreck scene. It appeared Cherry had a gunshot wound to his arm. He was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital and released and transported to East Point Jail.
The GBI will continue its independent investigation and upon completion, it will be turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review.
