ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — An Athens-Clarke County police officer shot a man who was holding two knives outside a day shelter Monday afternoon, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. At about 4:30 p.m., officers responded to the 400 block of North Avenue near downtown “regarding a disturbance involving a subject brandishing a bladed weapon,” the GBI said. “It scared me to death … I had to sit down for a minute and hold my breath,” said Tammy Evans, who uses the service center and witnessed the shooting. Witnesses said the incident unfolded outside the Advantage Homeless Day Service Center, where people gather for services such as laundry and housing assistance. “All I heard was pow pow and I took off running,” said Mamie Dunn, who also uses the center and witnessed the shooting. “I ain’t never seen nothing like that, in daylight … I seen that man fell,” she added. A center employee noticed a man yelling outside the front door and opened it to check on him, the GBI said. The man — later identified as John Weeks, 44 — continued yelling while holding a knife in each hand. The employee shut the door and asked for help from an off-duty Athens-Clarke County police officer working at the center, who called for additional officers to respond. After other officers arrived, they gave Weeks verbal commands to drop the knives, but he refused and began stepping toward officers, according to the GBI. One officer then shot him. Evans said Weeks was seated on a bench…
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