Police chief: Officers on 'distress' call forced to shoot armed man

Police in DeKalb County said officers were forced to open fire on an armed man who refused to drop his weapon Thursday afternoon. That man has died and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate the officers' actions.

It happened around 3:50 p.m. in the 1300 block of Balsam Drive, which is near University Heights United Methodist Church and Laurel Ridge Elementary School. DeKalb County police said they received a 911 call from a woman stating someone was in distress and needed assistance.

"It was just a 'distress - please send officer' call but they hung up before providing any additional [information] and we didn’t have an address," said Chief Mirtha Ramos, DeKalb County Police Department.

Police were able to get a vague area from where the call originated and dispatched officers to the area to patrol. While the officers were searching the area, Chief Ramos said an older man armed with a handgun came out of a home.

The chief said the officer ordered the man to drop the weapon, but when he refused, the officers opened fire.

"Just wielding the firearm and refusing to put it down was a threat in itself," the chief said.

The man died at the scene. Police later identified the man as 75-year-old John Daniel Dixon.

No one else was injured.

Investigators were talking to another adult in the home but didn’t immediately know their relation to the man.

Two officers were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard procedure for incidents like this one. The name of the officers has not been released.

Police said they still trying to determine who the original caller was and what emergency they were trying to report.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed they are assisting in the investigation.