Atlanta Officer Injured In Shootout Recovering: Police Chief

ATLANTA — An Atlanta Police officer shot Wednesday in the line of duty remains in stable condition at an area hospital.

Officer Khuong Thai was shot in the face and shoulder as he and a fellow officer encountered a shooter in the Solace apartment building at 710 Peachtree Street, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant told reporters Thursday.

“He is doing well and is surrounded by his family,” Bryant said of the second-year officer.

Thai and Officer Joshua Lovreta were called to the location Wednesday afternoon in response to reports of gunfire from an upstairs floor in the building, police said.

“There were two shots in the hallway. There’s someone screaming … Floor 8,” a caller told an Atlanta Police emergency dispatcher.

Bryant said Lovreta and Thai had developed a plan of how they would engage any potential threat as they took the elevator to the eighth floor.

“As soon as the door opened, this individual was firing upon police officers,” he said.

Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant

Both officers returned fire, although Thai was hit immediately, and the shooter — identified as 29-year-old Joseph Lee Humbles of Atlanta — was fatally wounded by police gunfire, according to the GBI.

Other officers, including Lovreta, worked to get Thai out of the building and to safety so he could receive emergency medical attention.

“This is one of the most heroic events that I’ve seen in the police department, and I’ve seen many,” Bryant said. “These officers clearly did not have an understanding of what all the threats were, but they recognized that they needed to assist their fellow police officer who had come under fire. The remaining officers continued to secure that building and look for additional threats.”

Upon further investigation, police found Humbles had shot and injured another man in the building just before other officers arrived, police said. Investigators are trying to determine what led to the initial gunfire.

“The actions of the men and women of the Atlanta Police Department were stellar, not to my surprise,” Bryant said.

The GBI, as is the routine with any officer-involved shooting, has taken over the investigation.