Investigators also said they were looking for a 2009 silver Nissan Sentra with Georgia tag PVW 8141 that they said belongs to Beck.
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According to a report, Beck told police that his auto had been broken into and needed officers to respond. Officer Hancock is white and Beck, his arrested assailant, is Asian. He has not yet been charged. The GBI said Beck told them he suffers from depression and does not hate police. The GBI has reported that Beck made the 911 call regarding the vehicle break-in. Authorities did not provide the race or identity of the officer or the suspect. Both were taken to the hospital and at the time, the motive was not known.
The suspect was on probation for a weapons violation in St. Louis, Belmar said, had been on probation for a stolen vehicle in Oklahoma and was picked up on a gun charge in California, drawing a prison term for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was paroled in 2015. She said he often returned to the center to volunteer. The officer was sacked upon as he exited his patrol vehicle, the GBI said. Both men were wounded in the ensuing gunfire, and both are expected to survive. The shooting in Valdosta, just north of the Georgia-Florida state line, happened hours after five police officers were killed Thursday night during an ambush in Dallas.
“We’re hoping we can show the rest of the country, this is how you investigate an officer shooting”, Childress said. He said while news reports describe the shooting as an ambush, local police and the GBI are not doing so. “There’s nothing to indicate there’s a connection to that”.
The group of young people gathered in support of Officer Randall Hancock, Saturday, after the events of Friday in which the officer was called to a scene and ambushed by Stephen Paul Beck, a 22 year old recovering drug addict.
The suspect was not identified.
Beck was hospitalized in stable condition and remains under medical supervision. The officer is white, according to Valdosta city spokeswoman Sementha Mathews.
However, upon arrival, officer Randall Hancock was sacked upon three times – twice in his protective vest and once below. The vest took the brunt of two shots, while a third went under the vest into his abdomen, the GBI said. The officer fired back and wounded the suspect.
Both men were transported to local hospitals and remain in stable condition, police said. He also said the criminal justice is traditionally unfair to black men. “The officer called out on the radio screaming for assistance”, Childress said. “I’m also equally relieved that the offender is going to make it”.
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The GBI said that when its investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for review. The protests erupted over the recent shootings of black men by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.
