A Fort Oglethorpe Officer Shot And The Suspect Dead

 One man is dead and an officer injured after an incident in Fort Oglethorpe.
     It happened Wednesday morning in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot on Battlefield Parkway.
     WDEF News 12's Mandy Odom has the details in our top local story.
     A Walker County deputy spotted a wanted suspect 34-year-old John Curtis Coates.
     There was a warrant out for his arrest on charges of aggravated stalking, but he resisted arrest.
     When the Walker County deputy tried to serve the warrant, but the suspect refused to cooperate.
     So, the deputy called the Fort Oglethorpe Police for back-up.
     Officer Mitchell Moore and others arrived to help.
     A struggle started, and the suspect pulled a gun.
     Fort Oglethorpe Chief David Eubanks says, "Our officer deployed his taser. One prong hit the vehicle, one prong hit him, had no effect on him at all. The suspect came out with a gun. Our officer turned away and was shot in the back. His body armor deflected the bullet."
     The Walker County deputy then fired on the suspect.
     Emergency workers took both men to the hospital; the suspect to Hutcheson and Officer Moore to Erlanger.
     The suspect died, but officers say Moore will be okay.
     Councilman Johnnie Red Smith is thankful Moore was wearing a bullet proof vest.
     He says, "If something happens, if he doesn't have the proper equipment, it can be over. This is deadly, and I don't want to go to none of them's funeral."
     Josh Cline was shocked to see a crime scene around the Chick-Fil-A and to find out what happened.
     He says, "If he's going to shoot at him, you know, he deserves to be taken. He's putting a lot of lives, there's a lot of people here eating and stuff like that, so if he's gonna shoot, he needs to be put down." 
     Councilman Smith is a former officer and was shot in '93.
     He says it can happen on any call.
     Smith feels for the officers and their families.
     He says, "When you have to pull that trigger, that is awesome. You're talking another human. It don't matter what the situation is, this is another human being and when you pull that trigger that's a lot of weight." 
     The GBI is investigating.
     The Walker County deputy's name has not been released.