Police: Car being chased by officers kills bicyclist

ATLANTA - A manhunt continued Tuesday morning for a vehicle that struck and killed a bicyclist in downtown Atlanta Monday afternoon. Police said they had just called off a pursuit of the vehicle when the hit and run occurred.

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It happened along Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd near the corner of Luckie Street Northwest around 4 p.m. Monday. Atlanta Police said a gold Chevrolet HHR struck the bicyclist, identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as Andrew Whitlock, 37, of Atlanta, before taking off. Police said about four to five blocks earlier, police supervisors called off a pursuit of the vehicle when the driver refused to stop.

"There was a lot of traffic. It was like bumper to bumper over there. I don't know how he got out of there. He weaved through the driveway or something, managed to squeeze through and take off," said Stan Brown, an Uber driver in the area.

Brown said he had a passenger in his backseat when he saw officers surround the car, guns drawn, near the YMCA on Luckie Street.

"I was trying to get away from the guns in case they went off," said Brown.

Officers initially were trying to stop the vehicle believe it was connected to suspicious activity near Midtown. When the driver refused to cooperate, police shut down the pursuit.

Police said the driver did not stop after hitting Whitlock. Emergency crews arrived on the scene and were performing CPR on Whitlock as he as being rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

"There was an effort by Atlanta Police and a Fulton County Sheriff's deputy to administer CPR at the scene.  That was unsuccessful," said Darin Schierbaum, APD Commander Zone 5

Atlanta police recovered the Chevy in northwest Atlanta, but the driver was nowhere to be found.

Brown dropped off his fare and went to the scene to tell police what he saw. He said he was devastated to learn what happened.

"I knew it. You know, when he went by I knew he was going to kill somebody, 'cause I just came from the convention over here. There are a lot of pedestrians and he was going this direction and I knew it wasn't going to be a good outcome, not at the speed he was going," said Brown.

Investigators are reviewing surveillance cameras in the area to see if they can get a better description of the driver. They are asking anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to call them.