A veteran Atlanta Police officer was shot and wounded during an attempt to arrest a murder suspect in Henry County, Georgia, Tuesday.
The suspect is dead.
The wounded officer was airlifted to a hospital and is expected to fully recover, Fox 5 reports.
The incident unfolded when officers from the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force attempted to arrest Derek Rankins, who was wanted for the Aug. 20 murder of 32-year-old Courtney Reece in Atlanta.
According to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Rankins was tracked to a residence in Henry County and when officers arrived to apprehend him, Rankins opened fire, striking an officer assigned to the Task Force. The wounded officer is an 18-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department's fugitive unit.
Rankins was later found dead inside the home, according to police. However, Chief Schierbaum did not confirm whether Rankins died by his own hand or was shot by someone else, stating that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) will be conducting a thorough investigation into the incident to determine the exact circumstances of his death.
