The man wanted in a series of shootings in an Atlanta suburb that left four people dead was shot and killed by police on Sunday, and two officers were injured while attempting to take the suspect into custody, officials said.
Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett said Andre Longmore, 40, was fatally shot during a widespread search after he had traveled into a nearby area of Clayton County. Several state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the search that began Saturday morning in Hampton, a small city of about 8,000 residents about 30 miles outside Atlanta.
“This monster’s off of our streets,” Scandrett said during a news conference Sunday.
A Henry County sheriff’s deputy and a Clayton County police officer were wounded in the attempt to arrest Longmore, according to Henry County Sheriff’s spokesperson Syntonnia Moore.
Hampton Police Department Chief James Turner said the victims were three men and one woman. All four victims were identified Sunday as Scott Leavitt, 67, and his wife Shirley, 66; Steve Blizzard, 65; and Ronald Jeffers, 66.
Longmore had been wanted on four counts of murder in connection to the deaths, according to authorities. Local police agencies and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident.
Hampton city officials said a candlelight vigil will be held Monday night in memory of the victims and in support of the victims’ families.
“Today is about the victims of this tragic event. It’s about their family, and it’s about the community,” Hampton Mayor Ann Tarpley said during the news conference. “… We’re asking the entire community to come out and support them.”
Two day search occurred in two different cities
The shootings happened at about 10:45 a.m. in separate locations, all within the Dogwood Lakes subdivision area.
Officials from Clayton and Henry counties said officers engaged with the suspect in two different cities where gunfire was exchanged.
Two officers were wounded and one was life flighted to a hospital after being hit in the rear of his back, Scandrett said. But the officers were stable, conscious and alert, according to Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts.
Neighbor Frankie Worth told the Associated Press that he heard a gunshot as he was reaching for his living room window to open the blinds and figure out how much yard work he had to do Saturday.
Worth said Sunday that he ducked “just for a second” then looked back out the window. A neighbor Worth knows as Andre was standing in the middle of the street with his hands jerking from the recoil of firing a silver handgun.
The man appeared to have fired at a small white car being driven by another neighbor, Worth said, who lives across from Worth. He said the shooting happened on the edge of a cul-de-sac where they all live, and he said Longmore about 12 feet away as the car moved off. Worth said he couldn’t see if anyone else was in the car.
Worth first thought he was witnessing a road rage confrontation but said the man moved deliberately.
He said Longmore appeared to evaluate whether he needed to shoot again and then “started walking casually” toward the entrance to the subdivision, before picking up his pace to a “brisk stride.” Worth said he ran upstairs, watching Longmore disappear behind some trees, as he called police. He heard no more gunshots after that.
Officials had urged residents to avoid the Dogwood Lakes area, where the shooting broke out.
Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez; The Associated Press.
