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Georgia police are searching for two suspects after an off-duty Georgia State University police officer was shot on Sunday, July 30, around 9:30 PM in southwest Atlanta. The shooting happened during an attempted robbery in the 1400 block of Donnelly Avenue.
According to reports, LaToya Denise Crook, a 31-year-old Georgia State University police officer, was walking down the sidewalk with a friend in downtown Atlanta on Sunday night when they were approached by two men. Crook told police that the two men, one of which was on a bike, approached them and attempted to rob them at gunpoint.
Crook and one of the suspects got into an altercation, which led to Crook being shot. Police say the officer then pulled out her own firearm and returned fire, prompting the suspects to flee.
Georgia State University released a statement about the shooting:
Georgia State University police officer LaToya Denise Crook, 31, was approached last night in Atlanta at 1460 Donnelly Avenue SW by two males in an apparent armed robbery attempt. Officer Crook was off-duty, walking back to her home when shots were exchanged between the robbery suspect and Officer Crook. Officer Crook was hit twice. She was taken to Grady Hospital and admitted with non-life-threatening injuries. She is in good spirits and Georgia State police officers, friends and family remain by her side.
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is investigating the attempted armed robbery under APD case number 172112180. Georgia State’s police department is working with the APD as it tries to identify suspects in this case. We thank the APD, the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and Grady Hospital for their professional response to this incident. Because this is an Atlanta Police response and investigation, questions about the incident details, suspects or criminal investigation should be referred to the APD’s Public Affairs Office.
Officer Crook has been employed by the Georgia State Police Department since January 2017. She came to the department from the Georgia World Congress Center Police Department where she served from November 2013 until joining Georgia State. She is an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We continue to pray for a speedy recovery.
Crook, who was shot twice (once in the hand and once in the side), was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and is in stable condition.
The bicycle left at the scene is being used as evidence, however, police haven’t released a description of the suspects at this time.
About Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a public research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia’s four research universities. It is also the largest institution of higher education in the University System of Georgia, with a total student population of approximately 53,000, including 32,082 graduate and undergraduate students in the downtown campus.
Georgia State University offers more than 250 undergraduate and graduate degree programs spread across eight academic colleges[7] with around 3,500 faculty members. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Approximately 27% of the student population is considered part-time while 73% of the population is considered full-time. The university is one of only four Georgia universities classified as a ‘Research University/Very High Activity’, according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university has a full-time faculty count of 1,142, with 69 percent of those faculty members either tenured or on the tenure track.
GSU has two libraries, University library, and Law library, which hold over 4.3 million volumes combined and serve as a federal document depository. The university has an economic impact on the Atlanta economy of more than $1.4 billion annually
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