An officer was shot dead while he was answering the report of a suspicious vehicle near the school.

A police officer was shot dead near a school in Georgia after responding to a report about a suspicious vehicle, authorities said.

Antwan Toney and another officer approached a vehicle near Shiloh Middle School in Snellville to check if people had smoked marijuana, according to Sgt. Jake Smith of the Gwinnett County Police Department.

It was at this point that shots rang out inside the vehicle, Smith said, adding that it did not happen "at 99.999%" of the time.

"That's how it happened, it's just tragic," Smith said.

One of the bullets hit Toney, Smith said.

His partner, who was not identified, dragged Toney to protect him, Smith said.

It was not clear right away where Toney had been beaten, but he succumbed to his injuries – only six days after his three years with the ministry, Smith said.

"The DPCG officer who was wounded in the line of duty died as a result of his injuries," the department said Saturday.

The vehicle, which counted to four people, took off and crashed less than one kilometer from the scene of the shooting, Smith said. The police had fired back and it was unclear whether anyone in the car had been injured or if the car had just crashed while she was running away, Smith said. The suspects fled on foot.

Gwinnett County Police Chief, Butch Ayers, said at a subsequent press conference that investigators were examining body images shot by a body camera, but he did not specify which camera he had spoken. Earlier, Smith had stated that most of the department's officers had a camera for the body, but not all.

"People who worked daily with Agent Toney remembered a very jovial person, dedicated to his job and his community," Ayers said.

Police announced at a press conference late at night that Isaiah Pretlow had been arrested by the US Marshal's service. According to Gwinnett County Police Chief Butch Ayers, Pretlow was in the crashed vehicle and took off on foot. Officers approached and opened fire on them, but no one was beaten.

Pretlow was charged with aggravated assault, Ayers said.

At the same press conference, Ayers announced that the police were still looking for Tafahree Maynard, but he was charged with aggravated assault and murder. He also fled the accident on foot and is considered armed and dangerous.

The other officer who approached the vehicle with Toney does not seem to have been hurt.

Alexandra Faul and Mark Osborne of ABC News contributed to this report.