Crime & Safety

Avondale Officer, Slain Man ID'd

Police officer who shot suspect returns to street duty as DA's office continues "standard review."

An Avondale Estates police officer who fatally shot a man July 15 has returned to patrol duty while the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office and the GBI investigates the case.

Other than the names of the slain man and the officer, authorities have released few details in the case. The man was Randall Hill, 26, of Avondale Estates. The officer was Emilio Quintana.

GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Wednesday that the agency is still looking into the case.  Erik Burton, spokesman for the DA’s office, said in an email Tuesday that “the Emilio Quintana piece is under standard review. There is nothing else we can say at this time.”

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Avondale police said the DA’s office cleared Quintana to return to patrol duty after a period on administrative duty.

On the day of the shooting, Bankhead said the officer pulled an unidentified motorist into the Pattillo United Methodist Church's parking lot during a routine traffic stop.  While the officer was at the church, a church worker reported a suspicious person nearby, Bankhead said, and the officer chased the person into the woods.

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Authorities said the two men struggled and the officer shot and killed the man, who was armed with a pistol.  Police said the pistol was a fully loaded .38 caliber revolver and that the suspect did not fire any shots


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