Atlanta police officer shoots driver after stolen vehicle barrels toward him

The suspect is expected to survive, authorities said.

With a stolen vehicle barreling toward him, an Atlanta police officer shot and critically injured the driver, according to new details the GBI released Wednesday.

“Preliminary information indicates that the East Point Police Department was investigating a carjacking which occurred earlier in the day,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.

About 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, the unidentified Atlanta police officer spotted someone driving the stolen vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the 2600 block of Old Hapeville Road. A passenger was in the vehicle, too.

“During the attempted stop,” Miles said, “the passenger exited the vehicle and fired shots.”

That’s when the driver, identified as 23-year-old Nicholas White, sped toward the officer, prompting him to shoot White.

White was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was in critical condition Wednesday morning.

The passenger has not been identified or located.

No officers were injured during the incident, one of three shootings involving a Georgia police officer or sheriff’s deputy over the span of six hours Tuesday.

According to the GBI, a man broke into a Stone Mountain apartment Tuesday afternoon, held a woman against her will, fired shots at officers when they arrived and barricaded himself in an apartment at The Reserve at Stone Creek. After an hour-long standoff, the man came out firing and officers fired back. It is unclear if the man died at the scene or en route to a hospital. His name has not been released.

RELATED: Armed man dies in shootout with DeKalb police at apartment complex

MORE: Deputy shoots, kills armed man in Forsyth County

The GBI is expected to release more details about the deadly Forsyth County shooting later Wednesday.

All of Tuesday’s incidents raised the number of officer-involved shooting investigations in Georgia this year from 44 to 47.

OVER THE LINE: Police shootings in Georgia

INTERACTIVE MAP: Georgia's officer-involved shootings under GBI investigation

There were 97 such investigations in 2017.