The suspect in the mass shooting that occurred in Georgia on Saturday morning was shot and killed by police on Sunday afternoon. Andre Longmore, 40, was killed in a confrontation with police in the suburb of Jonesboro, according to authorities. A sheriff from Henry County and a police officer from Clayton County were both hurt during the confrontation, according to authorities.
The two policemen will likely make full recoveries. The previous day, Longmore was wanted for the murder of four adults—three men and one woman—in Hampton, a community on the southeastern fringe of the Atlanta metropolitan area, located about 35 miles south of Atlanta.
Scott Levitt, 67, his wife Shirley Levitt, 66, Steve Blizzard, 65, and Ron Jeffers, 66, were identified by investigators in Henry County as the victims. According to reports, the shooting occurred at 10:45 a.m. in the Dogwood Lakes neighborhood of Hampton, a town with a population of around 8,200. The victims were all white people. Black Longmore existed.
The Associated Press reports that a neighbor of the victims heard a gunshot early on Saturday morning. A Marine Corps veteran next door claimed to have seen Longmore standing in the middle of the street, hand jerking from the recoil of a silver revolver he had just fired.
The eyewitness added that as Longmore approached the subdivision’s entrance, he “began walking casually” before picking up speed. He said he went upstairs to keep an eye on things and saw Longmore disappear beyond a grove of trees.
The neighbor added to Fox5: “but it was a weird type of gear I’ve never seen before.” Longmore was clad in what the neighbor described as “tactical gear.” According to him, at first he suspected it was a case of road rage. A second resident informed the Associated Press that Longmore had driven through his and his neighbor’s yards, breaking ornamental windmills and leaving tire marks in the grass.
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Police have been somewhat tight-lipped about the mass shooting, but Hampton Police Chief James Turner has ordered a manhunt for the suspect, Michael Longmore, and has provided a description of him. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Longmore, according to Sheriff Reginald Scandrett. Scandrett proclaimed, “Wherever you are, we will hunt you down in whatever hole you may be hiding in and bring you into custody,” indicating the level of force that would be utilized to pursue Longmore. “Period.”
Sheriff Scandrett addressed a press conference after Longmore’s death, explaining that officers had followed the suspect to the intersection of Mt. Zion Parkway and Highway 138, near Jonesboro, where shots were fired. According to the sheriff, Longmore ran away on foot and was subsequently confronted by cops, leading to a gunfight in which he was slain.
The sheriff then claimed, “The citizens of Hampton, the county of Henry, the metro Atlanta area, and the entire state of Georgia can breathe a little easier tonight that the suspect is off the street.” He added, “This monster is off of our streets.”
The terrible shooting murders of four people in a peaceful Atlanta suburb and the subsequent police killing of the accused gunman are just the most recent in a seemingly endless series of almost daily incidents across America in which groups of people are shot dead.
More than 100 people were injured and at least 18 were murdered in a series of mass shootings over the four-day July 4th holiday weekend; in the next 11 days, there have been another 36 such shootings.
Recent developments have included:
Paterson, New Jersey, 5 July: At about 2:40 a.m., two individuals, ages 17 and 26, were shot and murdered. Three more were injured by gunfire and sent to a nearby hospital. Andre Sayegh, mayor of Paterson, NJ, said, “I don’t want to speculate, however it could potentially be something that stems from a Fourth of July dispute that had gone wrong.”
El Paso, Texas, July 8th, 2017: Eight teens, ages 15 to 18, were hospitalized after a shooting during a high school party. The incident, according to the authorities, took place during a house party with over a hundred visitors when a group of unauthorized individuals showed up. According to the story, a fight ensued, and then someone started shooting at the gathering.
Wadesboro, North Carolina, July 9: A gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a convenience store next to a block party, killing one and wounding six others. The death was officially declared there and then. Shell casings were found in the parking lot, but police haven’t made any arrests as of yet.
El Paso, Texas, July 13: Two persons were killed and four others were injured in a shooting at El Paso’s Ditzy Duck Bar shortly after midnight. The shooter began fire erratically after an altercation in the bar escalated into the parking lot.
GunViolenceArchive.org reports that between July 5 and July 16, a total of 195 people were injured and 32 were killed in mass shootings around the United States. Including the perpetrator, the online archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more persons are injured or killed.
There have been 389 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2023, according to the archive; this number is on level with 2021’s record high of 690. The media and the political establishment in the United States have grown immune to such events, and they no longer comment on them unless a large number of people are killed in one episode.
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It’s only a matter of time before another senseless massacre takes place, and politicians and TV pundits have no answers for why this keeps happening or what can be done to stop it.
As a result of decades of looting by the nation’s billionaire elite, as well as attacks on the living conditions of the working class, reductions in social programs and education, police brutality and murder, and imperialist war overseas, American society has been decimated by socioeconomic disparity.
All over the United States, in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, random acts of violence occur on a daily basis because of the aforementioned economic and social conditions, as well as the suppression of working class struggle by the capitalist state and the corporatist trade union bureaucracy.
If you want to stay up-to-date on the newest news and in-depth coverage of today’s events, start reading californiaexaminer.net immediately.
