Arrest in shooting of Atlanta policeman from roof
Mar 24, 2012, 3:29 AM
ATLANTA (AP) – Atlanta police on Friday arrested a suspect in the shooting of an officer who they say was targeted from a rooftop in a busy business district.
Officer Dexter Toomer was hit in the leg in the city’s Little Five Points neighborhood Thursday night, police said. Toomer was treated at a hospital and released Friday.
Late Friday, police said they charged 19-year-old Cameron Christian Maddox with aggravated assault and said he might face other charges.
The officer was leaving a restaurant on Moreland Avenue and was walking back to his car when he was wounded around 11 p.m., police said. Police Sgt. Curtis Davenport said in an email that Toomer expects a full recovery.
Investigators believe the shooter waited for the officer to get out of the restaurant, then fired six or seven shots. Investigators searched a nearby rooftop for shell casings and other evidence, police told WSB-TV (
http://bit.ly/GIWgp6).
An officer nearby heard the gunfire, rushed over to the fallen officer and radioed for help, police said.
Police did not release a motive.
The gunfire left bystanders startled. The neighborhood includes several restaurants and nightspots which are typically busy late into the night.
Toomer has been employed for more than 19 years by the city of Atlanta. He spent the first 18 years as a corrections officer in the city.
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