Police officer shot and killed in suburban Atlanta

RIVERDALE, Ga. — A police officer died Thursday after being shot at an apartment complex in suburban Atlanta.

Maj. Greg Barney, a 25-year veteran of the Riverdale police department, died following surgery, Riverdale police chief Todd Spivey said.

"He was a heck of an officer," said Mayor Evelyn Winn-Dixon. "This has been a monumental loss for our city."

The incident occurred at the Villages on the River apartment complex in Riverdale. Officers from the Riverdale and Clayton County police departments were serving a warrant when the suspect ran out of the back door of the apartment and opened fire, striking Barney in the arm and in the abdomen, according to police.

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A Clayton County officer then shot the suspect.

Barney was not wearing a bullet-proof vest, according to Spivey.

The wounded officer was transported to Southern Regional Medical Center in critical condition, according to Clayton County Fire Battalion Chief David Vasquez. The officer later died, officials announced.

Although Barney was not a member of the Clayton County Police Department, Chief Michael Register said his death "is a loss for everybody."

"When one officer falls, we all fall," Register said.

The suspect, whose name was not released, was taken to Atlanta Medical Center and is in critical condition, Vasquez said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is taking over the investigation.

In 2004, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Barney became the first African American to serve as Riverdale’s police chief when he accepted the interim position after the retirement of Mike Edwards. Barney’s stint as chief lasted five months.

Contributing: The Associated Press