Atlanta Police Officer Shot While Responding To Call Monday Morning

ATLANTA, GA- A Atlanta Police officer is recovering after he was shot and wounded while responding to a call in the City of Atlanta early Monday morning. The officer has been treated and released and a suspect is now safely in custody following the incident that unfolded during the time most people were in rush hour traffic on Monday morning.

According to Atlanta police on Monday, August 17, 2026, at 8:41 a.m., officers were dispatched to reports of an armed individual experiencing a mental health crisis at a residences in the 1400 block of Clark Howard Lane SW. Officers arrived on the scene and were able to make contact with an armed person at the home.

Police report that individual discharged a firearm and subsequently struck one of the responding officers. Additional officers on the scene rendered aid to the wounded officer, who police confirm alert, conscious, and breathing. The officer was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta for treatment..

The Atlanta Police Department has identified the wounded officer as Officer DeVante Matthews. APD confirms Officer Matthews was shot twice. He was transported to Grady Hospital and treated for his injuries and later released. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Officer Matthews was struck in the arm.

Officer on the scene were able to disarm the suspect, who was suffering from a mental health crisis according to Cheif Schierbaum. He was taken into custody and transported to Atlanta Police Headquarters for questioning. Police have identified the suspect in the shooting at 24-year-old Michael Gates. Schierbaum says that officers have been to the home multiple times in relation to mental health crisis involving Mr. Gates.

Upon Gates being taken into custody APD officers located a female inside the home that was a relative of Gates. She had sustained minor injuries in relation to being grazed by a bullet. She received treatment for her injuries and is expected to recover.

Officer Matthews is 30-years-old and has been with the Atlanta Police Department since 2019.

The case remains under investigation and all parties involved are expected to make a full recovery. Police have not announced which charges will be filed against Mr. Gates, but note he will be charge accordingly.

ALL SUSPECTS ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW!!!

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Alton Mitchell

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Alton Mitchell is a career journalist, who currently resides in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He began his journalistic writing career while attending middle school and continued on through high school earning top honors by becoming his high school newspapers Editor in Chief. During his senior year of high school Mitchell's work received community recognition following an article that helped to save a local elementary school from closure. He would later go on to college where he earned degrees in Political Science and English. Following his graduation from college Mitchell would take on several reporting jobs at smaller publications and worked in roles ranging from a freelance journalist to editorial related roles. His work was recognized and received Press Association Awards in 2021. Writing is a passion and a love for Mitchell and he hopes to enlighten the community he serves through his works with A Mitchell Media LLC.

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