Investigators said the motive remains undetermined, but they have no reason to believe the incident was related to a mass shooting in Dallas on Thursday, which claimed the lives of five officers and injured seven others.
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Hancock was shot multiple times as he responded to a 911 call about a auto break-in outside the Three Oaks Apartments just after 8am on Friday, Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress said.
Police say a Georgia man friends describe as “gentle” and a “teddy bear” called 911 to lure an officer into an ambush that left both wounded.
During the interview, Beck admitted he called 911 and shot VPD officer Randall Hancock because he wanted the police to shoot him as he wanted to die.
Hancock and Beck were both transported to an area hospital for treatment.
No charges have been filed, but a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer is expected, the GBI report stated.
Officer Randall Hancock’s protective vest took some of the bullets, but he was hit once just below it, in the abdomen, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton said.
Hancock remained hospitalized in stable condition Saturday night at South Georgia Medical Center, according to authorities.
People who know Beck told the AP that they thought he was a success story of sorts. Years earlier, he had moved to Valdosta to stay at a live-in treatment center for people with chemical dependencies and seemed to have overcome his addiction issues. There was no answer Friday evening at the door of an address listed for Beck’s parents in Kennesaw, north of Atlanta.
“We are following the standard protocol and professional protocol … that protocol is any time there is an officer-involved shooting, we call in an independent outside agency”, Childress said. “He was very active, pro-active and he looked good”. Other shots hit Hancock’s vest.
“I am happy to report he is going to be fine, he is in stable condition”, Childress said.
Investigators also said they were looking for a 2009 silver Nissan Sentra with Georgia tag PVW 8141 that they said belongs to Beck.
The Dallas shooter, killed at the scene by a police robot bomb, was black and the police officers white.
“Since Ferguson, it seems like the media, in general, it feels like we’ve been under siege”, said J. Thomas Manger, the chief of police in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Childress declined to comment on any possible motive when asked about his officer being shot so soon after the Dallas attacks.
Multiple gunshots were fired at Three Oaks Apartment complex at about 8 a.m.
Childress said officer Hancock, an Air Force veteran, was wearing a body camera, and the video tape has been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the case.
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The Dallas officers were shot during a protest over the recent killings of black men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.
