GBI identifies driver killed by Atlanta police officers attempting to serve arrest warrant

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has shared new information about the deadly shooting of a driver by Atlanta police officers on Thursday night.

Authorities say the incident began around 4:20 p.m., when officers with the Atlanta Police Department went to the 1100 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW to serve an arrest warrant.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, the wanted individual got into a car with the driver, who the GBI later identified as 33-year-old Lithonia resident Rakeem Deandre James, and attempted to flee the scene.

The GBI says that James refused to stop for officers, hit an APD patrol car while reversing, and then repeatedly hit another patrol SUV in front of him.

Multiple Atlanta police officers fired shots, hitting James. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

James' body will be taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy will be conducted.

Officials did not share the name of the suspect who the arrest warrant was for. As of Thursday night, he or she remained out of custody.

The investigation remains ongoing, and the GBI is asking anyone with information to call its Atlanta Regional Investigative Office in Conyers at 770-388-5019 or the Tipline at 800-597-8477.

After the GBI completes its investigation, the case file will be turned over to the Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office.

This was the 66th shooting involving a police officer in Georgia this year. According to the GBI, 37 have been deadly.