According to CPD Public Information Officer Lt. Wendell Wagstaff, at approximately 9 p.m. a vehicle driven by 25-year-old Marvin Mercier, entered Newton County driving roughly 95 mph. When a Georgia State Patrol trooper attempted to initiate a traffic stop, Mercier refused to stop his vehicle, said Wagstaff.

The vehicles sped up on I-20, exited the interstate and then got back on the interstate traveling westbound in the eastbound lane. At exit 92, GSP stopped the vehicle using a PIT maneuver.

According to a press release from the CPD, the "suspect immediately opened gunfire upon the officers while still in vehicle," with a .38 revolver. The trooper and officer returned fire, fatality shooting Mercier. A female passenger in the vehicle was uninjured and was questioned and released. "This was a threat to our officers and they acted appropriately and stopped the threat," said Wagstaff.

"We just have a lot of questions," said Mercier's mother, Vanessa Samuel. "Questions that anybody would have." Those questions include the identity of the female passenger in the car.

"He's a person, he's a family member, he's a father," she said, showing pictures of Mercier's 5-year-old and 8-month-old sons. "For him to open fire, it doesn't make sense."

The CPD officer, who is a law enforcement veteran, is currently on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into the incident. At the request of CPD Chief Stacey Cotton, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation - considered a neutral party - will be handling the investigation.

At the time of the incident, Mercier had a warrant for his arrest out of Rockdale County for felony escape for failure to report back to court on a case related to drug charges.