Two Atlanta area sheriff's deputies shot; former Black Panther sought

Authorities in the Atlanta area were searching for Jamil Al-Amin after two police officers were shot

March 17, 2000
Web posted at: 8:26 a.m. EST (1326 GMT)

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Two Fulton County sheriff's deputies have been hospitalized with multiple gun shot wounds after attempting to serve a warrant against a former leader of the Black Panthers late Thursday.

The Fulton deputies were attempting to serve a Cobb County warrant for aggravated assault and weapons charges to Jamil Al-Amin -- who was known as H. Rap Brown when he was a member of the Black Panthers in the 1960s, said Capt. David Chadd of the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.

Both deputies were shot with a .223 assault rifle, which is similar to an M-16, Chadd said.

It is unclear whether Al-Amin is responsible for the shooting, but Deputy Chief C.B. Jackson of the Atlanta police said Al-Amin was still missing and the warrant against him was outstanding.

Chadd said Fulton County police believe the shooter may have been injured when he exchanged gunfire with Fulton County deputies, as there was blood found at the scene which did not belong to either of the deputies.

One of the deputies, Aldranom English, was in guarded but stable condition at Grady Hospital. The other, Ricky Kinchen was in critical condition and undergoing surgery at the same hospital.

Al-Amin was a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and justice minister of the Black Panthers, which rose to prominence in the 1960s. Known then as Brown, he once exhorted blacks to arm themselves, saying "Violence is as American as cherry pie."

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