Officer's Wife Still In Critical Condition

A DeKalb County police officer's wife remained in critical condition Monday afternoon at Grady Memorial Hospital after being attacked early Sunday morning outside her home.

Investigators have determined that she was attacked during what appears to have been a robbery, police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.

"Several of her personal items were taken," Parish said.

It is unclear, however, whether the woman, who is not being named by police, was targeted or was the victim of "a crime of opportunity," Parish said.

Police say she suffered several head injuries.

According to police reports, the woman went out Saturday evening with a friend.

She called her husband, DeKalb Police Sgt. Jerry Banks, to tell him she would be dropping a friend off and be on her way home, police said.

But Banks, his daughter and her boyfriend were all at home and heard nothing from the victim, according to police.

Around 3 a.m., the woman's daughter realized she had left the garage door open and went to close it, police said. The daughter saw her mother's car in the driveway and told her father, according to reports.

Banks told police he opened the door and noticed a trail of blood leading from the garage to the outside, and followed the trail until he found his wife lying in the yard.

No suspects have been identified, and investigators don't know how long the victim had been lying in front of the house. But the three people inside the home told police they didn't hear anything outside, and the woman the victim took home said she arrived there around 2 a.m.

Officers on the scene said that a white paint can with what appeared to have been blood inside was found inside the house near the kitchen door, according to police reports.

Article by AJC