Georgia police officer critical after shooting; another officer among 7 others hit: A police officer was shot several times in the leg Wednesday night during a standoff with a man who had been reported as a man in need of a welfare check, authorities in Macon said.
“A shootout occurred, and this officer was hit several times by gunfire,” Macon Police Chief Bobby Cummings said Thursday. “We’re hoping he’s going to be OK.”
• The officer was among six others struck by gunfire, authorities said, and the other wounded were a state trooper, an emergency medical technician, a bail bondsman and a town marshal.
• Cummings said the suspect, Todd Scott Culler, was “down” but alive. Macon Police Sgt. Jason Holley said he was also alive but thought to be in a “critical condition.”
• Culler had taken three people hostage and threatened to kill them and himself, authorities said. The names of the three people were not immediately released.
• The standoff began when officials began a welfare check at a home near Minnehaha Street and Coolidge Avenue in downtown Macon.
“As they were initiating the welfare check, they had gunshots exchanged between the subject and police,” Cummings said.
• “It was overwhelming,” Cummings said. The team fired off 150 rounds, some of which “were extremely close,” he said.
• Police later went inside the home, but as they were calling for reinforcements, Culler “advised they were going to kill both of us, so that’s when officers came back inside and he exited the house and took off into the neighborhood,” Cummings said.
• “I’m not sure he really wants to communicate,” Cummings said. “I’m not sure he knows we’re looking for him. He was in a distance (from the scene) last night so we’re not sure if he left through the front door.”
• The other officers were “shot indiscriminately in the head and head down,” Cummings said.
• “It’s a most tragic situation for us,” Cummings said. “It’s very emotional.”