By Jacqueline Koch
Chattanooga Times Free Press
FORT OGLETHORPE, Tenn. — Body armor saved a Fort Oglethorpe police officer from being wounded Wednesday morning by deflecting a gunman’s bullet.
Officer Mitchell Moore was treated at Erlanger hospital and released after being shot in the back at about 10 a.m. in the parking lot of the Chick-fil-A on Battlefield Parkway in Fort Oglethorpe, Police Chief David Eubanks said.
The shooter, who has not been identified by police pending family notification, was pronounced dead about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, police said. The body was sent to Atlanta, where an autopsy is expected.
Before being killed, the man allegedly said he would rather fight officers than go to jail after he was stopped by a Walker County deputy, the chief said.
“He advised he was not going to go with the deputy,” Chief Eubanks said.
Fort Oglethorpe patrol officers wear body armor whenever they’re on duty, officials at the police department said.
In Chattanooga, police policy requires patrol officers to always wear body armor as part of their issued uniforms, said Assistant Chief Mike Williams, who oversees the uniformed patrol division. Officers in the department have worn the body armor for at least 20 years, he said.
“I can’t see why somebody who is working patrol would not want to wear it, because it’s proven over and over again how effective it can be,” he said.
The armor also protects officers during assaults, such as the time when an officer’s vest was slashed with a knife, he said.
Any time such an altercation occurs, the department’s policy is substantiated.
“It just validates our policy of requiring them to wear it,” Chief Williams said. “And it’s a win-win for the city as well, because it’s a whole lot better to buy the body armor and protect them upfront than for them to be seriously injured or killed.”
In addition to saving officers from gunfire, it also has proven protective during car accidents when it helps absorb blunt-force trauma from a steering wheel, Chief Williams said.
The shooting in Fort Oglethorpe took place after a Walker County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a man wanted in Catoosa County on a charge of aggravated stalking, Chief Eubanks said.
A struggle ensued, during which the suspect pulled away, reached into his truck and pulled out a weapon. The deputy called for backup, which brought Officer MItchell to the scene.
Officer Mitchell attempted to use a Taser on the man, Chief Eubanks said, but it had no effect.
The man pulled out a weapon and Officer Mitchell turned away, at which time he was struck in the back, but his body armor deflected the bullet, the chief said.
Officials said early Wednesday afternoon that they did not know how many shots were fired, though they did know that the Walker County deputy, who has not been identified, fired at least one shot, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Jerry Scott said.
Authorities also were unsure where the suspect was hit.
“It’s going to take some time to wrap things up,” Agent Scott said.
The GBI initially was called at the request of the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department to investigate the incident as an outside agency.
Police say a shooting incident involving an officer -- whether the officer is killed or wounded -- affects the entire department and sometimes the community.
“Everybody is concerned and trying to find out exactly what condition the officer shot is in,” said South Pittsburg Police Chief Dale Higdon, who was present during a 2008 shooting that left Officer Jeff Stevens wounded during the National Cornbread Festival.
He said emotions experienced during an incident remain with officers in the aftermath.
“First thing you do, your training kicks in,” Chief Higdon said. “Then, after it’s over with, you’re going to think about it and think about it.”
Copyright 2009 Chattanooga Times Free Press