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Officer and suspect hospitalized after shootings in Clayton County and Atlanta
Police say the woman called 911, shot the female Clayton County officer responding to her home, and then got in a shootout with Atlanta police after driving north into the city.
ATLANTA - A Clayton County police officer and the suspect accused of shooting her are both hospitalized following multiple shootings overnight.
Police say Wednesday night they got multiple calls from 25-year-old Aiyanah Pryor at a home on the 7800 block Newbury Drive off Highway 138 threatening to kill herself.
Around 11 p.m., Officer Demika Lloyd responded to the home. Investigators Lloyd she was met by Pryor, who was armed and immediately started shooting. Lloyd was hit multiple times.
"Another subject in the house called our dispatch back and advised that she heard multiple gunshots and that our officer was down," Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts told reporters
That led to a swarm of other officers descending on the home. They found their injured colleague in the backyard of the home.
Police block off look for clues where officer was shot
Paramedics rushed Lloyd to Grady Memorial Hospital. At last check, she was undergoing surgery but is expected to survive. Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts says Lloyd has been on the force for about a year and a half and works the night shift.
According to investigators, after shooting Lloyd, Pryor jumped in a car and headed north of Interstate 75 into Atlanta.
Officer Demika Lloyd (Clayton County Police Department)
Atlanta Police tracked her vehicle to the Lakewood Stadium area, locating it on Polar Rock Drive.
Police say they tried to get Pryor to surrender, but when an officer approached the car, she started shooting. Officers returned fire, hitting Pryor multiple times. She was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
No Atlanta officers suffered any injuries.
"Chief Roberts please know that we have your officers in our prayers for her speedy recovery and know that we are praying for the recovery of the suspect as well," said Interim Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
Family shares video saying Aiyanah Pryor wasn't the aggressor
Pryor's family shared home surveillance video of the shooting, which they say contradicts the police account of what happened. Pryor's family insists she was not the aggressor. Her brother Marcus Martin told FOX 5
"We can't see what happened (in the video) when the cop went through the house, but my mom said when she let her in the door she asked where my sister was. She said my sister was at the back door. She pointed at her said, 'She is right there'. The officer said she was just going to talk to her calmly. What are you doing?" Martin said.
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Family releases video of woman's confrontation with police officer
The family of 25-year-old Aiyanah Pryor released surveillance video showing a scuffle she got into with an officer who was responding to a call of a person in mental distressed. Officer Demika Lloyd was shot multiple times during the encounter, investigators say. Pryor would flee and later encounter Atlanta police officers and would be injured in an exchange of fire, investigators say.
Marcus claims the officer grabbed his sister from behind and the two fell to the ground and began tussling.
Pryor's brother said his sister was clearly experiencing a mental health crisis, and questions why Officer Lloyd wasn't assisted by a second officer on scene after a family member allegedly told police she was armed. He says the video proves the woman didn't point her gun at the officer before the shooting.
"The news said she just started shooting that's a lie," said Martin. "She was jumped on. They were on the ground, on top of each other intertwined in a ball. My sister got up; the cop was on the ground."
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation of the APD's officer-involved shooting.