A man was killed at a Georgia state prison on Sunday after authorities said he was involved in a shootout with corrections officers.
Investigators believe Marquavious Rashod Parks, 26, of Athens, and another man went to Washington State Prison in Davisboro to smuggle contraband, according to GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles. Davisboro is about 135 miles southeast of Atlanta and 55 miles southwest of Augusta.
Parks and the second man, 51-year-old John Frank Snow of Monroe, were confronted by officers and police dogs on the perimeter of the prison about 10:30 p.m., Miles said.
“One officer was hit and transported to a hospital in Augusta with non-life-threatening injuries,” Miles said in a news release. “The officer was treated and released. Parks was found deceased in a nearby pond.”
According the GBI, an autopsy found that Parks was shot but ultimately drowned. The gunshot wounds contributed to his death, the agency said.
Snow is in custody in connection with the incident, according to the GBI. He faces charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and felony murder.
“The investigation indicates that the items believed to be contraband found at the scene were intended to be introduced into the prison,” Miles said. She did not say what those items were.
The incident is the 95th shooting involving a law enforcement officer that the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
An investigation is ongoing.
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