1 Officer Killed, 3 Dead In Clayton County Domestic Shooting

CLAYTON COUNTY, GA — Four people, including a Clayton County Police officer, were killed late Tuesday night in a shooting incident that drew policemen into the line of fire.

Clayton County Field Training Officer and S.W.A.T. team member Henry Laxson is dead, as well as the gunman and two female victims. A 12-year-old boy also was shot in the face and taken to an area hospital in critical, but stable condition, police said. And Officer Alex Chandler suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the hand, authorities said.

"It's definitely emotional," Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts said about the slain officer. "These men and women do an honorable job every day. These things just shouldn't happen."

Around 8:40 p.m., police were called to a report of a drive-by shooting in the 3600 block of Jervis Court in Rex, about 15 miles outside of Atlanta's city limits. The call was followed by multiple reports of gunfire, including a report of a young person being shot.

The first officers to the scene encountered the boy, Roberts said.

"They were engaged by a male suspect who was armed with a handgun and fired upon them," he said, saying the officers took cover to avoid injury as the shooter ran to the rear of the house.

At the back of the house is where the gunman encountered S.W.A.T. officers Chandler and Laxson, Roberts said.

"He also engaged them in gunfire, unfortunately striking two of our officers," he said.

S.W.A.T. officers returned fire and their volley of shots struck the unnamed gunman, according to police reports.

The officers also were taken to nearby hospitals, where Laxson later died, police said.

The two women killed in the incident have not been named pending notification of their next of kin, Roberts said.

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