HAMPTON, Georgia (AP) — Officers fatally shot a man wanted in four murders over the weekend near Atlanta in a shootout, authorities said Sunday, with a sheriff’s deputy and two police officers injured as they tried to arrest the suspect.
Officials said Andre Longmore was shot during an intense manhunt for the 40-year-old suspect. The shooting came a day after a shooting took place Saturday morning in a rural neighborhood in Hampton, just south of the main city in Georgia.
Officials said Longmore was killed 25 miles north of Hampton, in the suburb of Jonesboro. The Clayton County Sheriff’s Department said a Henry County sheriff’s deputy saw the Longmore SUV stolen from one of the victims and began chasing it and calling for help. After exchanging gunfire with Longmore, Clayton police said he escaped. He was eventually shot in an apartment complex next to a high school.
They said a Henry County sheriff’s deputy and two Clayton County police officers were shot and killed at separate locations in an attempt to arrest Longmore.
Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandret said one of the officers was shot in the back and was airlifted to a trauma center in Atlanta. “He is conscious, breathing and speaking now,” Skanderet said of that officer.
Clayton County Sheriff Kevin Roberts said the three officers are expected to recover. Details of the condition of the other two injured officers were not immediately released.
Hampton Police Chief James Turner said the four people 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 comes over to sing on the first song they shared on the premises.
A few months ago, Jeffers came to his 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 his heart was heavy the Sunday after his death. “I know that he is singing in heaven.”
A friend close to Blizzard did not immediately respond to a message on Facebook.
The authorities were seeking to arrest Longmore on four death warrants. Turner said Longmore’s motives are still under investigation.
Neighbor Frankie Worth told The Associated Press Sunday that he heard a gunshot Saturday morning when he reached his living room window to open the blinds and see how much work he had to do on the patio.
Worth said he dodged “just a second” and then looked out the window. “You know, when it happens to you, you have to know where it came from,” said Worth, who identified as a Marine Corps veteran.
Longmore, known as Andre, stood 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 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, upset or angry,” Worth said.
Longmore appeared to assess whether he needed to shoot again, Worth said, and then “began walking casually” toward the entrance of the subdivision, and then “at a brisk pace.” Worth said he ran upstairs and saw Longmore disappear behind trees when he called the police.
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. About 40 homes on two streets surround a lake in the neighborhood, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of downtown Atlanta.
Ron Foster, who lives on the main road outside the entrance to the apartment property, said Longmore drove through his and his neighbor’s yard, destroying several ornamental windmills and leaving tire tracks in the garden. Foster was inside his house when he heard the creak of metal.
“What was going on in this man’s head after he’d done everything he’d done?” Foster wondered. “It was unreal. »
Hampton is the home of Atlanta Motor Speedway, Georgia for NASCAR events. Turner said the most recent murder occurred before Saturday in the town of 8,000 in 2018. “It’s not normal for us,” he said.
The shooting was the 31st mass shooting 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-N-Tarpley Mayor said the city will hold a prayer service Monday night for the four victims and their loved ones.
“We support them and will continue to support them through their grief,” Tarpley said.
