MARIETTA, Ga. -- Officers in Marietta prevented a potentially deadly shooting on Saturday.
Saturday morning at about 6:40, Cobb County 911 dispatched Marietta police officers to report some suspicious activity at a home in the 200 block of Aviation Road.
The homeowner said there was an unfamiliar vehicle that had just parked in their yard and the driver was stumbling around the area acting suspiciously.
When officers arrived, they found the unoccupied vehicle parked on the lawn. Witnesses in the area said the suspect was in the back parking lot of a nearby school.
On Officer Maria Funes' bodycam video, the suspect could be seen talking with someone in a car. When Officer Funes confronted the suspect, the suspect ran away and the officer gave chase.
As a second police officer, Officer Rocky Ellenson, approached the suspect from the side, the suspect stopped abruptly, turned toward Officer Funes and tried to pull a gun from his waistband.
Before the suspect could pull the gun out, Officer Ellenson tackled the suspect, knocking the gun out of his hand.
Officer Ellenson is a Marine Sergeant with five years of active duty experience prior to joining the Marietta Police Department four and a half years ago. Officer Funes is an active 13-year Army Reserve Staff Sergeant who joined the Marietta Police Department eight years ago.
The suspect was later identified as Josiah Benjamin Moorhous. Investigators said Moorhous has an extensive violent criminal history, which included fighting with law enforcement.
He was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and faces the following charges: felony aggravated assault of an officer, misdemeanor obstruction/hindering law enforcement, violation of Georgia Controlled Substances Act/possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony - controlled substance, DUI drugs, driving with an expired tag and driving without insurance.
Investigators said that a review of the film of this particular incident showed that it was clear that the use of deadly force would have been justified. However, despite this, the officers were able to use their experience, skills and good judgment to prevent the situation from becoming deadly.
