Gwinnett Police Officer Antwan Toney is the second officer shot and killed in Georgia this year.
Gwinnett Police Chief Butch Ayers said Officer Antwan Toney is the fifth Gwinnett Police officer killed in the line of duty in the department.
Gwinnett Police officer killed near Snellville, manhunt underway
Gwinnett officers Jerry Everett, Jesse Gravitt and Ralph Davis were killed in 1964 during a confrontation with suspects who stole a car. In 1993, Gwinnett Police officer James Magill was killed in the line of duty while on DUI patrol. He was hit by another vehicle.
Sgt. Jake Smith said the department will seek justice for Toney’s murder.
"The [police officers] are professional, we’re going to continue to do our job and hopefully catch the people that are responsible for this,” said Smith. “We want to catch them.”
Toney’s death marks the fourth shooting between law enforcement and suspects in the region within the last 48 hours.
Three of those shootings have been deadly.
On Thursday, a Georgia State Trooper was nearly killed when a suspect shot him at close range along I-75 in Bartow County. Thankfully, the officer was wearing a body armor vest.
Troopers returned fire and killed the shooter.
A few hours later, in Walton County, Monroe Police shot and killed Mahon Summerour, 63, when he pointed a replica gun at officers.
Officer Toney is the second police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in Georgia this year.
In February, Locust Grove police officer Chase Maddox was shot and killed while serving a warrant to a suspect for failing to appear in court.
Two Henry County Sheriff’s deputies were also wounded and the suspect was killed.
Covington Police officer Matt Cooper is still recovering from a shooting on Sept. 3. Cooper was shot in the head while responding to a shoplifting call.
He is currently at the Shepard Center in Atlanta.
Community shows support for Covington officer shot in line of duty
Outside of metro Atlanta, two other officers were killed in the line of duty. In Savannah, Officer Anthony Christie was killed when he was hit by a vehicle while responding to a crash scene in May.
Chief of Police Frank McClelland, Jr. of the Ludowici Police Department was struck and killed during a police chase in September.
