An off-duty U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been identified as the gunman in Sunday’s deadly shooting outside a Douglasville Walmart, police said.
Officers found 45-year-old Johnathan Liddell of Austell shot in the parking lot on Thornton Road about 12:50 p.m. Sunday, police said in a statement.
No charges have been filed against O.L. Jones, who police said Monday was an off-duty ICE officer.
“The incident was recorded on parking lot surveillance video, and investigators are continuing to interview witnesses about what led up to the shooting,” police said.
ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said in a statement to AJC.com that Jones shot the victim with a gun he personally owned, while traveling with his wife and children. ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility will investigate the shooting, he said.
Jones works in the Enforcement and Removal Operations division of ICE, according to Cox. His status with the federal agency is not clear.
Witness Erick Wright pulled out his cellphone and started recording from the back of the parking lot when he heard a gunshot ring out, Channel 2 Action News reported.
In the video, obtained by Channel 2, a man can be seen firing into the back window of a red sedan before moving around to the driver’s side, gun drawn.
Wright said he heard the shooter announce he was an officer, ask a woman to retrieve his badge and order the victim to put up his hands.
The gunman was with the woman in a nearby vehicle before he approached the red sedan, Wright said. Children were in the car, too. Wright asked the man why he fired into the car.
“He said he was reaching for a gun, and that’s why he shot him,” Wright said.
After he checked on the driver, the shooter was heard in the video shouting to other witnesses in the parking lot, “I’m a police officer, I need help!”
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Investigator Terrence Dukes at 678-486-1230.
The Walmart is in eastern Dougasville, near I-20 and on the Douglas County-Cobb County line.
