STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (July 1) - A police officer was fatally wounded in a foot-chase-turned-shootout that also killed the man he was pursuing at a cluster of apartment buildings where many Hurricane Katrina victims were relocated.
DeKalb County police Detective Dennis Carmen Stepnowski, 33, died Thursday at a hospital.
Lucas D. Palmer, 25, was wanted in a February slaying in his hometown of Lacombe, La., said Capt. George Bonnett, spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. Neighbors at the Atlanta-area apartment complex said Palmer fled Louisiana after Katrina and had gotten out of jail hours before the shootout.
Stepnowski and another officer were on patrol when they saw a man who seemed suspicious and chased him, police spokesman Sgt. Charles Dedrick said.
At some point during the chase, "shots were fired," Dedrick said, without elaborating on who fired first.
Police shot the man to death in a grassy area bordered by a playground between four apartment buildings.
Witnesses said they heard at least 10 shots in rapid succession.
Neighbor Torrey Gails, 16, said Stepnowski was shot a couple of times in the throat before another officer shot the man they were chasing. Neighbor Vaughn Smith said the men were shot a few feet apart from each other, separated by a cluster of oak trees.
Stepnowski, who was married, was a member of the police SWAT unit and had been with the department for 10 years, his colleagues said.
DeKalb County police Detective Dennis Carmen Stepnowski, 33, died Thursday at a hospital.
Lucas D. Palmer, 25, was wanted in a February slaying in his hometown of Lacombe, La., said Capt. George Bonnett, spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. Neighbors at the Atlanta-area apartment complex said Palmer fled Louisiana after Katrina and had gotten out of jail hours before the shootout.
Stepnowski and another officer were on patrol when they saw a man who seemed suspicious and chased him, police spokesman Sgt. Charles Dedrick said.
At some point during the chase, "shots were fired," Dedrick said, without elaborating on who fired first.
Police shot the man to death in a grassy area bordered by a playground between four apartment buildings.
Witnesses said they heard at least 10 shots in rapid succession.
Neighbor Torrey Gails, 16, said Stepnowski was shot a couple of times in the throat before another officer shot the man they were chasing. Neighbor Vaughn Smith said the men were shot a few feet apart from each other, separated by a cluster of oak trees.
Stepnowski, who was married, was a member of the police SWAT unit and had been with the department for 10 years, his colleagues said.
