Shooting procedures praised

The Zone 2 policeman who killed a robber this week at a Buckhead Burger King is a 10-year veteran who showed the benefits of good training, Zone 2 Commander Robert Browning said Thursday night.

Browning, giving a Zone 2 crime update to the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, said the officer used "very good tactics, things that he did to protect himself and protect other individuals." Browning said that two other officers, including a lieutenant, who responded to the crime were spared possible injury by the officer's procedures. 

The officer in the early Wednesday morning shooting at the is on a mandatory three-day leave. Browning, who was among APD officials who investigated at the scene, said the time off would help the officer overcome the trauma involved in such an incident. "It an event, a very sharp transition," Browning said.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Atlanta Police Depatment's Office of Professional Standards, as well as the Homicide Unit, police spokesman Carlos Campos said Thursday.

The robber, identified as Jimmy Allen, 31, of Atlanta, came to the Burger King at 5:45 a.m. as it was opening to rob the restaurant, police said. A Burger King employee tripped an alarm, and the officers responded.

The officer who killed the robber first encountered him inside the restaurant, firing twice at him when he turned at the officer, drawing his gun, police said. When the wounded robber went out the back entrance, the officer left through the front door, and again encountered the robber, firing eight more shots and killing him.

Browning praised the Burger King employee for her presence of mind, saying she noticed him driving around the parking lot in his late model car before he entered the restaurant and sensed his purpose. She then sounded the alarm. 

Allen has been implicated in 18 robberies of fast food restaurants in the metro area, including Burger Kings and Taco Bells, Browning said.

Browning also said the APD "has some leads" in the late Monday night robbery of the on West Paces Ferry Road. A gunman wearing a ski mask and a hoodie forced an employee outside emptying the trash back into the restaurant. The gunman took an undisclosed amount of money from the safe and escaped.

The Wily's robbery is believe unrelated to the one at Burger King.