Wounded Officers Released from Hospital

ATLANTA -- Two police officers who were wounded during an apparent shootout in southwest Atlanta were released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

The officers were shot Tuesday morning in front of a home in the 900 block of Cascade Road. One of the suspects involved in the shootout was reportedly killed.

GALLERY: Two Officers Shot in SW Atlanta

Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon, and said the two injured officers were part of the Zone 4 Crime Suppression Unit, specifically detailed to prevent burglaries in an area recently afflicted by several of them.

According to one officer, who spoke to Chief Pennington while in the emergency room, he and his partner approached three individuals sitting outside a house on the 900 block of Cascade Road. The officer asked them to step away from the home, and also asked one man to remove his hands from his pockets. After asking three times, the gunman complied, bringing out an automatic weapon and firing it. The officers returned fire, and the gunman was killed in the exchange. That was when the officers were injured.

"We take our jobs very seriously, and that's why we train our officers to be prepared when someone pulls a gun on them," said Chief Pennington.

A physician at Grady Hospital said neither officer sustained life-threatening injuries in the shooting. One had an entrance wound to his face, with the bullet lodged behind his ear. He was scheduled for further evaluation, but it appeared that there were no brain-related issues with the injury.

The other officer was shot in the left front chest, but as he was wearing his bulletproof vest at the time, he escaped with only a bruise.

Pennington said he would be unable to release the officers' names until their families were notified.

"These officers have done a great job for the department in zone 4, and I'm glad that they're going to be okay," Pennington said.

The incident remained under investigation Tuesday.