At least four people were killed, in a small city in rural south Georgia, United States, on Thursday (May 4) after a gunman shot a fast food worker and two of its relatives, before taking his own life.
Colquitt County Coroner C. Verlyn Brock told The Associated Press, that the shooter killed his mother and grandmother at two neighbouring homes and killed a woman at a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Moultrie. However, the identity of the victims and the shooter were not immediately known.
The 26-year-old gunman shot dead his 50-year-old mother and 74-year-old grandmother at two neighbouring homes and killed a woman, aged 41, Brock told AP. He also said that all three women appeared to have been shot multiple times.
The shooter was later identified as Kentavious White who fatally shot his manager identified as 41-year-old Amia Smith, said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The security camera footage from McDonald’s in Moultrie, as per the police showed White, shooting the store manager after getting her to come to the door Thursday morning.
They also found two women related to White had been shot at neighbouring homes which were less than 3.2 kilometres away, said the GBI, in a statement on Thursday evening, adding that one of the women passed away after being taken to a hospital.
Previously, the GBI said in a statement only that there had been “multiple fatalities” at different crime scenes in the area, reported the AP. The state’s leading law enforcement agency also said Moultrie Police Department requested its assistance.
An eyewitness Sabrina Holweger, as per AP, said that police blocked off a main street that runs in front of the McDonald’s. According to Holweger the woman who died at the restaurant was the early morning manager and that the shooter was an employee. However, the reports were not immediately confirmed by the officials.
Brock told CBS News, it was a male shooter, who has not yet been identified by authorities, shot his mother and grandmother at their homes. The media report also said that his mother died at the scene, but the grandmother, who lived next door to her daughter, was taken to the hospital and passed away.
In a statement, George Suarez, owner and operator of the McDonald’s in Moultrie said that the restaurant will be closed until further notice. “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved restaurant manager, and our hearts go out to all the victims of this senseless act of violence,” said Suarez.
The city where the incident occurred, Moultrie, is approximately three hours south of the state capital city of Atlanta, where at least one person was killed and four others were injured after a shooting incident in the waiting room of a medical facility.
(With inputs from agencies)
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