UPDATE: 12:32 p.m.: The man accused of killing a Gwinnett police officer was found hiding in a wooden shed wielding a lawn mower blade and was shot and killed after he refused to obey police commands, authorities said.
After receiving information from a tipster on Tafahree Maynard’s whereabouts, 75-90 police officers descended on a neighborhood in unincorporated Snellville, set up a perimeter and went house to house, Gwinnett Police Chief Butch Ayers said at a press briefing.
After finding Maynard, police initially used a Taser. They shot after determining he had was armed with a mower blade. Police said the officers were five to six feet away from Maynard when he was shot. "The danger to the community is over," Ayers said.
Maynard was found about one mile from where Gwinnett County police Officer Antwan Toney was shot Saturday afternoon.
UPDATE 11:29 a.m.: Tafahree Maynard, the man accused of shooting and killing a Gwinnett County police officer Saturday, is dead, officials told Channel 2 Action News.
UPDATE 11:22 a.m.: A media briefing previously scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the South Precinct has been delayed.
Credit: Gwinnett County Police
Credit: Gwinnett County Police
UPDATE 11:13 a.m.: A man accused of shooting and killing a Gwinnett County police officer Saturday has been located, officials told Channel 2 Action News. Tafahree Maynard's condition is unknown.
There is a huge police presence on Hewatt Road in Snellville, the news station reported.
ORIGINAL STORY: The search for a man accused of shooting and killing a Gwinnett police officer entered its third day Monday as officers canvassed the area near his mother's home.
Just before 9 a.m., Gwinnett police said there was a “credible sighting” of 18-year-old Tafahree Maynard in the Snellville area in the last 12 hours.
SWAT crews were seen on Cordite Loop in Snellville, which is near where members of Maynard’s family live, Gwinnett County police Sgt. Jake Smith told reporters Monday morning. Officials think he is in that area.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Police believe Maynard fired the shot that killed 30-year-old Gwinnett County police Officer Antwan Toney on Saturday afternoon.
“We are kind of taking away his resources as much as we can,” Smith said of Maynard, who last attended Shiloh High School in February 2017.
There is a “good chance” that police are able to find Maynard alive, Smith said. When Maynard was seen, he was in “relatively good health,” though he might have an injury to his hand, Smith said.
Anyone who sees Maynard should call 911 and not approach him, police said.
Another suspect, Isaiah Pretlow, 19, of Snellville, was arrested late Saturday night by U.S. marshals and charged with aggravated assault. He was booked at the Gwinnett County Detention Center shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday, and is being held without bond, according to jail records.
He and Maynard were together when Toney was called to investigate a “suspicious vehicle” near Shiloh Middle School in unincorporated Snellville, according to police.
Toney was shot while approaching the car, officials said. He was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Toney, the fourth Georgia officer killed by gunfire this year and 45th nationwide, was just days away from his three-year anniversary on the police force when he was killed.
Visitation has been scheduled for 2 p.m and 6 p.m. Tuesday at Crowell Brothers Funeral Home, 5051 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Peachtree Corners. Toney’s funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at 12Stone Church, 1322 Buford Drive, Lawrenceville.
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