UPDATE: Suspect Who Shot at APD Officer Arrested

Credit: Atlanta Police Department

UPDATE: Atlanta police say that they have arrested a suspect in the Thursday evening shooting which saw an Atlanta police officer fired on by an assault rifle.

Police Lt. Charles Hampton said Thursday that Alphonso Cochran, 23, the man arrested in connection to the shooting near Jonesboro and Anne streets is also a suspect in a homicide which occurred on Lakewood Avenue, the department’s Twitter account announced.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.

ORIGINAL STORY: Atlanta police say that one of their officers was shot at by a gunman carrying an assault rifle during a traffic stop late Thursday night.

According to a police report, officers were trailing a stolen van in the vicinity of Jonesboro and Dorothy streets at 10:30 p.m. when one of the officers attempted to pull the van over. The driver of the van bailed out of the vehicle after turning a corner at Jonesboro and Anne streets.

As the police officer pulled up in his patrol car, the driver fired two shots from a pistol grip assault rifle with a drum magazine. The officer backed away from the shooter, while the shooter fled south down a driveway and dropped the gun.

Police set up a perimeter around the area and used a K9 officer to try to locate the gunman, but he escaped. The rifle and the van were taken into evidence.

The officer that was shot at was not injured, the department said on Facebook.