By Joe Johnson
The knife-wielding woman who was fatally shot by an Athens-Clarke County police officer Monday morning was identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as 54-year-old Bonny Thomas.
Police responded to apartments in the 100 block of Chalfont Drive shortly after 10 a.m. on a female’s report that a woman had a knife and gun, but did not specify a problem, according to the GBI, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
In a Monday afternoon press conference, Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill indicated that it was believed that Thomas was the person who made the 911 call that sent police to her home.
Upon arrival, an officer was immediately met outside by Thomas, who was holding a large knife, according to the GBI.
“Thomas came toward the officer with the knife raised. She also said she had a gun,” the GBI stated in a Tuesday morning media release.
“The officer gave Thomas several verbal commands for Thomas to put the knife down, however, she began to run toward the officer. The officer fired one shot” that struck the woman, who later died at the hospital.
The GBI said that an autopsy was to be performed at the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur.
The officer, identified by police as Senior Police Officer Lamar Glenn name was placed on paid administrative leave pending preliminary findings of the shooting’s investigation.
Glenn, 53, has been with ACCPD for 29 years, police said
Spruill said that officer body camera footage would be made public at an unspecified date.
The incident marked the fifth time this year that an Athens-Clarke County police officer shot someone in the line of duty in 2019.
On Oct. 6, a police officer shot and seriously wounded a man who police said attacked him with a machete when the officer responded to a report of domestic violence at University Garden Apartments on Baxter Drive.
On July 1, officers fatally shot a man who was behaving irrationally prior to charging at officer with a knife at the entrance of River Club apartments off Macon Highway.
Another man was shot and killed during a police investigation on Hull Road in April. Police said they wanted to speak to the man as part of a peeping Tom complaint when the man pointed a shotgun at officers.
The fifth police shooting happened in March when a man was shot and killed as he approached officers while pointing a gun in a parking lot on West Lake Drive.
The GBI said that Monday's incident was 68th officer-involved shooting it has investigated this year.
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