The Saturday morning shooting that rocked a bucolic community in Hampton, Georgia, south of the main Georgia city, was followed by an exchange of fire a day later.
UPDATE – Monday, July 17 at 09:17 AM
Hampton: In four killings over the weekend near Atlanta, a wanted man was shot and killed by police officers in an exchange of fire, and a deputy sheriff and two officers were injured while trying to detain the suspect, authorities said.
Andre Longmore was shot and killed on Sunday during an intensive pursuit of the 40-year-old suspect, officials said. The Saturday morning shooting that rocked a bucolic community in Hampton, Georgia, south of the main Georgia city, was followed by an exchange of fire a day later.
Longmore was killed about 25 kilometers north of Hampton, a suburb of Jonesboro, officials said. Clayton County Police said the Henry County Sheriff’s Deputy saw the SUV Longmore had stolen from one of the victims and started chasing him, calling for help.
Clayton police said Longmore fled after an exchange of fire with Longmore. He was eventually shot dead in a townhouse next to a high school.
A Henry County sheriff’s deputy and two Clayton County police officers were injured in separate locations while trying to arrest Longmore, they said.
Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandret said an officer was shot in the back and was taken by helicopter to an Atlanta trauma center. “He was conscious at this point, breathing and talking,” Scandret said of the officer.
All three officers are expected to recover, Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts said. Details of the other two injured officers were not immediately released.
The four people killed Saturday, all residents of the Dogwood Lakes community where Longmore lived, were all shot within 10 minutes, Hampton Police Chief James Turner said.
He identified the victims as Scott Levitt, 67, and his wife Shirley Levitt, 66, as well as Steve Blizzard, 65, and Ronald Jeffers, 66.
Sherry Wyatt, who works at the Hamptons Recreation Center near Jeffers’ home, said Jeffers regularly sang at a senior center in the same building.
When Jeffers came to practice with her a few months ago, she told him how beautiful his voice was.
“I’m so glad I told him he sang like an angel,” Wyatt said, adding that she was saddened by his death on Sunday. “I know he’s singing in heaven right now.” A Blizzard relative didn’t immediately respond to a Facebook message.
Authorities have been seeking to arrest Longmore on four counts of murder. Turner said Longmore’s motives are still under investigation.
On Sunday, neighbor Frankie Worth said he heard a gunshot Saturday morning as he reached to his living room window to open the shutters to see how much yard work he still needed to do.
Voss said he “did for a second” before looking back out the window. “You know, when you get information, you have to know where it’s coming from,” said Voss, who describes himself as a Marine Corps veteran.
Longmore stood in the street, and Voss only knew him as Andre. He described seeing the man’s hands twitching from the recoil of the silver pistol shot.
Voss said the man appeared to shoot at a small white car driven by another neighbor, “an older white gentleman.” He said the shooting happened near a cul-de-sac where they both lived.
Voss said he first thought there was a road rage confrontation, but later said the man moved on purpose. “He didn’t look angry, upset, agitated,” Voss said.
Voss said Longmore appeared to be assessing whether he needed to shoot again, then “began walking nonchalantly toward the divisional entrance” before taking a “quick step.” Voss said he ran upstairs and watched Longmore disappear behind some trees before calling the police.
Turner told reporters earlier that detectives were investigating at least four crime scenes in Dogwood Lake. At least three police vehicles patrolled the neighborhood on Sunday, restricting access. The community is about 40 kilometers south of downtown Atlanta, with about 40 homes on two lakeside streets.
Ron Foster, who lives on the main road outside the entrance of the complex, said Longmore drove through his yard and a neighbor’s yard, destroying multiple decorative windmills and leaving tire tracks on the grass. Foster was inside the house when he heard the crunch of metal.
“What was going through that man’s head after all this was done?” Foster wondered. “It’s unreal.” The Hamptons are home to Atlanta Motor Speedway, Georgia’s NASCAR event. Before Saturday, the town of 8,000 had the most recent homicide, in 2018, Turner said. “It’s not normal for us,” he said.
The shooting was the 31st mass killing in 2023, killing at least 153 people this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA TODAY in partnership with Northeastern University.
Hampton Mayor Ann Tapley said the city will hold a prayer vigil Monday night for the four victims and their loved ones.
“We support them and we will continue to support them during their bereavement,” Tapley said.
