Coweta County deputy cleared in shootout that paralyzed armed suspect
Suspect Mario Clarke opens fire on a Coweta County deputy on body camera video from April 19, 2021.
COWEATA COUNTY, Ga. - The Coweta County District Attorney's Office decided not to indict a deputy who shot an armed man, paralyzing him on April 18, 2021.
Prosecutors decided the deputy was authorized to use deadly force after reviewing a Georgia Bureau of Investigation file.
Mario Clarke was seen on surveillance video getting into a shootout with his father on March 19, 2021.
Mario Clarke, 26, is charged with aggravated assault for shooting at his father
About one month later, Clarke was a suspect in a car theft. The manhunt for Clarke led to a shootout with law enforcement.
According to the Coweta County District Attorney's Office, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies chased Clarke on Interstate 85 when he crashed and abandoned his car at mile marker 48. Clarke ran toward the woods, and law enforcement tracked him to a PetSmart. Deputies saw Clarke and tried to talk to him when he, again, fled on foot, holding a handgun.
A Coweta County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw Clarke near Whitlock Recreation Center and chased him in his squad car. That was moments before the shootout began.
Body camera footage of shooting involving Coweta County deputy released
Body camera footage shows the deputy pointing a stun gun outside the driver's window, telling Clarke to get on the ground. Clarke appears to point a gun at the deputy and shots ring out. The deputy fires shots through the windshield of the car. The Coweta County District Attorney's Office said at least one bullet hit Clarke in the back.
Clarke appears to be laying down in the park while the deputy takes cover behind the car for several minutes and grabs what looks like an assault rifle. In the background, it sounds like officers are yelling commands at Clarke, who had a pistol next to him. Law enforcement approached the unresponsive man behind shields and took a 9mm Glock 26 from his motionless body.
Clarke was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
He survived, but remains paralyzed.
Body camera footage of shooting involving Coweta County deputy released
Body camera footage shows the deputy pointing a stun gun outside the driver's window, telling the armed suspect to get on the ground. The suspect appears to point his gun at the deputy and shots ring out. The deputy fires shots through the windshield of the car.
No charges for deputy who fired at Clarke
Prosecutors believe the deputy's actions were necessarily to prevent harm to himself and others, because Clarke had a deadly weapon and because his crimes were dangerous.
"Because the deputy was justified in using deadly force to apprehend Mr. Clarke, the District Attorney’s Office declines to prosecute him for shooting Mr. Clarke and considers this matter closed," a statement from the district attorney's office said.
It wasn't Clarke's first run-in with the law. He was arrested in Henry County on Jan. 6, 2021. Clarke was out on bond when the shooting incident with his father happened. Clarke ran away from a mental health facility while he was out on bond.
Video of shootout between Clarke and his father
Deputies say the family shootout started when the 26-year-old Clarke wen to his father's Coweta County house with a gun in his pocket.
The father did not want the gun in his house, deputies said. When the father tried to disarm his son, deputies say he pulled the weapon on his father.
Video shows the man identified as Mario Clarke sprinting toward his father and firing shots.