NATIONAL NEWS

Official: Gunman kills 3, then self in rural Georgia town

May 4, 2023, 11:55 AM | Updated: 2:03 pm

A Georgia man shot two of his relatives and a fast food worker dead before killing himself on Thursday in rural south Georgia, the local coroner said.

The shooter killed his mother and grandmother at two neighboring homes and killed a woman at a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Moultrie, Colquitt County Coroner C. Verlyn Brock told The Associated Press. He said the gunman then shot himself.

Brock did not provide the identities of the shooter or the victims. He said he did not know whether the gunman and the McDonald’s worker knew each other.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement only that there had been “multiple fatalities” at different crime scenes in the area. The state’s top law enforcement agency also said the Moultrie Police Department requested its assistance, as is typical in major crimes in Georgia.

“We are working to learn more information and track down some additional witnesses,” GBI Special Agent in Charge Jamy Steinberg wrote in an email.

Sabrina Holweger, who works at an adjoining optometrist’s office, said she and a coworker arrived at work before 8 a.m. to find police swarming the McDonald’s. She said she saw a woman’s body gunned down, in a doorway of the restaurant.

“It was really just scary not knowing if they had shot themselves,” Holweger said.

She said police blocked off a main street running in front of the McDonald’s in the city of 15,000 and told employees in her office that they would be questioned if they crossed the property line into the restaurant parking lot.

Holweger said the woman who died at the restaurant was the early morning manager, and that the shooter had been an employee there. Holweger said it appeared that the man killed the woman when she unlocked the door to let him in for an early-morning shift.

The Chicago-based McDonald’s Corp. did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

The killings in Moultrie, located in rural Colquitt County about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northeast of Tallahassee, Florida, came a day after a gunman in Atlanta killed one person and wounded four others at a medical office.

Chas Cannon, Colquitt County’s government administrator, said he was driving his daughter to school on Thursday morning when he passed the McDonald’s blocked off by police tape and patrol cars.

“A killing is pretty rare in our neck of the woods,” Cannon said. “It’s surprising. But this day and time, our jail’s at capacity, our local prison’s at capacity. There’s a lot of folks breaking the law, unfortunately.”

National News

Associated Press

Dashcam video shows deadly Texas school bus crash after cement truck veers into oncoming lane

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dash camera video released Thursday by a Texas school district shows the moment a cement truck veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students returning from a zoo field trip. The deadly collision on March 22 sends the bus rolling over on a rural highway […]

33 minutes ago

Associated Press

Last coal-burning power plant in New England set to close in a win for environmentalists

BOSTON (AP) — The last coal-fired power plant in New England, which had been the focus of a lawsuit and protests, is set to close in a victory for environmentalists. Granite Shore Power said Wednesday it reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to close the Merrimack Station in New Hampshire by June 2028. […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Universities of Wisconsin president proposes 3.75% tuition increase

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other campuses in the system would increase 3.75% next school year under a recommendation announced Thursday by UW President Jay Rothman. The proposal is up for a vote of approval by the UW Board of Regents on April 4. If approved, it would be […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Maryland seeks $60M in federal help to start recovery plan for collapsed Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Massive barges carrying cranes streamed toward Baltimore on Thursday to begin the challenging work of removing twisted metal and concrete in an attempt to open a key shipping route blocked by the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Russian veto brings end to UN panel monitoring enforcement of North Korea nuclear sanctions

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution Thursday in a move that effectively abolishes the monitoring by United Nations experts of U.N. sanctions against North Korea aimed at reining in its nuclear program, though the sanctions themselves remain in place. Russia’s vote sparked Western accusations that Moscow was acting to shield its weapons […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Suspect charged with murder, attempted murder in a series of stabbings in Rockford, Illinois

CHICAGO (AP) — A 22-year-old man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in a frenzied stabbing rampage that killed four people in a matter of minutes in a northern Illinois city, authorities said Thursday. Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said during a news conference that Christian Soto will be in court […]

5 hours ago

Official: Gunman kills 3, then self in rural Georgia town