Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Burger King Bandit Killed, Identified

The man has been identified as Jimmy Allen by Gwinnett County police, who now link him to robberies in the area.

Updated 5 p.m., August 10, 2011:

Officials have now identified a man killed Wednesday morning at a Burger King in Buckhead, and Gwinnett County police are officially linking the slain robber to a string of similar incidents in the area.

Cpl. Jake Smith, of Gwinnett County Police Department, said the man was identified as 31-year-old Jimmy Allen of Atlanta. Police say he is the same person responsible for approximately 20 armed Burger King robberies in the metro Atlanta area,

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Allen was killed in the morning of August 10, as he attempted to rob yet another establishment at 2425 Peachtree Road, near Lindbergh Drive, according to Atlanta Police. Police said Allen entered the Burger King when it opened at 5:45 a.m. and tried to hold up the restaurant, but an employee was able to trip a silent alarm.

Maj. Keith Meadows of the Atlanta Police Department told reporters that an officer responded and saw that the man had a gun. The officer asked the man to surrender, and he turned. Police then fired twice at the robber, striking him. Allen then staggered out the back door of the restaurant. He was eventually confronted again by the police officer, who fired at least seven more shots, striking the robber and killing him.

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Allen, who had a large amount of cash on him, died in the parking lot.

Police would not release the name of the officer involved, and said he would be put on three days of administrative leave pending a review of the incident. Meadows said the officer involved in the shooting is a police force veteran.

"He established the correct tactical advantage in the restaurant and in the parking lot," Meadows said. 

Malani Massey, an Atlantic Station resident jogging down Peachtree after the incident, said she is concerned about the recent frequency of crime in Buckhead and elsewhere.

"It's happening all over the place," she said. "You just have to carry a knife, say a hail Mary, ask for divine intervention, and hope it's not your time to go."

(Editor's note: Snellville Patch Editor Joy L. Woodson contributed to this report, which parts of originally appeared on )


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