[ad_1]
4 suspect killed in Georgia in shootout with police, 3 officers wounded Jeff Amy shot and killed a man wanted in 4 killings over the weekend near Atlanta during a shootout, with a sheriff’s deputy and 2 police officers injured as they tried to grab The authorities said the suspect is in custody.
Officials said Andre Longmore was shot Sunday during an intense manhunt for the 40-year-old suspect. The shootout came a day after shootings took place Saturday morning in a rural neighborhood in Hampton, just south of the main city in Georgia.
Officials said Longmore was killed 25 km north of Hampton, in the suburb of Jonesboro. They said a Henry County sheriff’s deputy and two Clayton County police officers were shot at separate locations in an effort to arrest Longmore.
Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandret said one of the officers was shot in the back and was flown by helicopter to a trauma center in Atlanta. “He is conscious, breathing and speaking at this time,” said Skanderit of that officer.
Clayton County Sheriff Kevin Turner said the three officers are expected to recover. Details of the condition of the other two wounded officers were not immediately released.
Henry Reginald Scandrite County Sheriff speaks July 16, 2022, in Hampton, Georgia, while surrounded by other police and local officials. (AP)
Hampton Police Chief James Turner said the four killed Saturday were all residents of the same Dogwood Lakes neighborhood where Longmore lives, and they were all shot within 10 minutes.
He named the victims as Scott Levitt, 67, his wife Shirley Levitt, 66, Steve Blizzard, 65, and Ronald Jeffers, 66.
Sherry White, who works at the Hampton Recreation Center near Jeffers’ home, said Jeffers regularly came by to sing at the first one they shared the building with. A few months ago, Jeffers came to her side of the building to practice and told him how beautiful his voice was.
“I’m so glad I told him he sang like an angel,” White said, adding that her heart was heavy Sunday over his passing. “I know he’s in heaven now singing.” A Blizzard relative did not immediately respond to a message on Facebook.
Authorities were seeking to arrest Longmore on four death warrants. Turner said Longmore’s motives are still under investigation.
On Sunday, his neighbor Frankie Worth said he heard a gunshot on Saturday morning as he reached into his living room window to open the blinds and see how much work he had to do on the yard.
Worth said he dodged “just for a second” and then looked back out the window. “You know, when it gets to you, you have to know where it came from,” said Worth, who identified himself as a Marine Corps veteran.
Longmore, who was known as Andre, was standing in the street. He described seeing the man’s hands tremble from the recoil of being shot with a silver pistol. Worth said the man apparently shot at a small white car driven by another neighbor, an “older white man.” He said the shooting took place near a cul-de-sac where they all live.
Worth said he initially thought there was an angry confrontation on the road, but said the man moved on purpose. “He didn’t seem angry or upset or agitated,” Worth said.
Photos identifying the four people killed in the shooting Saturday near Atlanta are shown by officers, July 16, 2023, in Hampton, Georgia. (AP)
Worth said Longmore appeared to assess whether he needed to shoot again and then “started walking casually” towards the subdivision entrance, and then “with a quick step”. He ran upstairs, Worth said, and saw Longmore disappear behind some trees when he called the police.
Police said Longmore drove off in a black GMC Acadia stolen from Blizzard.
Turner told reporters earlier that investigators are investigating at least four crime sites in Dogwood Lakes. At least three police cars pulled out of the neighborhood on Sunday, limiting access to it. About 40 homes on two streets surround a lake in the neighborhood, about 40 km south of downtown Atlanta.
Ron Foster, who lives on the main road outside the subdivision entrance, said Longmore drove through his yard and his neighbours’ yard, destroying several ornamental windmills and leaving tire tracks in the lawn. Foster was inside his house when he heard the grinding of metal.
“What was going on in that man’s mind after he did everything he did?” Foster wondered. “It was unreal.” Hampton is the home of Atlanta Motor Speedway, Georgia track for NASCAR events. Turner said the most recent murder before Saturday in the town of 8,000 was in 2018. “It’s not normal for us,” he said.
The shootings were the 31st mass killing incident in 2023, which has claimed at least 153 lives this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Hampton Mayor Anne Tarpley said the city will hold a prayer service Monday evening for the four victims and their loved ones. “We support them and will continue to support them throughout their bereavement,” Tarpley said.
[ad_2]
