Fulton County officer shoots, kills person breaking into patrol car, police say

GBI investigating officer involved shooting

A Fulton County Police officer shot and killed an individual who was breaking into their patrol car and then charged at the officer with a metal pipe in hand, according to the GBI.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A Fulton County Police officer shot and killed an individual who was breaking into their patrol car and then charged at the officer with a metal pipe in hand, according to investigators.

What we know:

The incident happened on Sunday at about 8:10 a.m. along McDaniel Street SW in Atlanta.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, someone came onto the property of an apartment complex and damaged a marked police vehicle by knocking out a window. A bystander saw what had happened and alerted a uniformed officer who was nearby.

As the officer, who Fulton County Police have identified as Corporal Damion Allen, began investigating the damage, he encountered the individual, who was armed with a length of flat metal. The GBI says that person then advanced towards the officer and refused multiple commands to drop the object. The officer fired his weapon, hitting the individual, who died at the scene. 

On Monday, the GBI identified the man as 51-year-old Elieser Rivera, Jr. of Passaic, New Jersey.

The officer was not injured.

What they're saying:

Some residents of Heritage Station told FOX 5 they were horrified by what took place at the entrance to their apartment complex.  

"It was very shocking to wake up this morning and find out that somebody's life had been taken," said Marie, who only wanted to be identified by her first name. 

She says she’s lived at the complex since 2010 and never seen anything like this play out here before. 

"It just hurts me to my heart to see what happened," Marie said.

Marie and other residents say the man who was killed was known to them as someone who had severe mental illness and who frequented the area.

"He was mentally ill. We knew that ... he never hurt nobody," she said.  

Marie hates to see this violence so close to her home.

"It hurts me to my heart. I didn't like that, I didn't like it at all," she said. 

What's next:

The body was taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.