ATLANTA, April 24 (UPI) -- A police officer was shot and killed after approaching a suspicious vehicle in Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Sunday.
Officer Mark Cross, 31, died at Grady Memorial Hospital just before midnight Saturday from a gunshot wound to the head.
Cross and Officer Andrew Griffin were patrolling the Adair Park neighborhood as part of an effort to combat drug crime in the area. The officers were shot when they approached two men in a vehicle. Griffin suffered a grazing wound to the jaw, but his wounds were not life threatening, police said.
Police Chief Richard Pennington, speaking outside the hospital, said a third officer returned fire, killing one man believed to be the shooter. Another man is in custody and is being interrogated about "what caused them to shoot two of our officers," Pennington said.
Cross was the father of two children, ages 2 and 4.
