ATLANTA - A DeKalb County police officer working with the U.S. Marshals is recovering after being shot in his left leg while serving a drug warrant in southwest Atlanta, authorities said today.
The officer was shot on Diana Drive, about six miles south of downtown Atlanta, city police spokeswoman Kim Jones said. He was taken to the Atlanta Medical Center and is expected to recover.
A fugitive task force team was helping the Atlanta Police Department's gang unit serve warrants, said U.S. Marshals spokesman Gavin Duffy. The suspect, identified as Titus Bates, 40, was armed with a .45-caliber pistol when authorities came to the door.
Bates fired a shot through the door and was taken into custody soon afterward, Duffy said. Responding officers who were on the scene applied a tourniquet to the wounded marshal's leg and Duffy said the officer is in stable condition.
"While this is a worst-case scenario for any law enforcement agency, we dealt with the issue calmly and smoothly, focusing on getting our guy to the hospital without losing much blood and arresting the fugitive," Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Keith Booker said in a statement.
Booker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Bates' criminal history dates back to 1992, and includes more than a dozen drug arrests.