A southwest Georgia man went on a rampage Thursday morning, killing his mother, grandmother, and another woman before committing suicide.
Investigators have not released the names of those involved, pending notifications, but Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock said the 26-year-old gunman’s 50-year-old mother and 74-year-old grandmother were shot to death in their Moultrie homes, which are next door to one another, according to the Moultrie Observer.
The third woman, 41, was shot dead at a McDonald’s restaurant where she was an assistant manager.
Brock said the man killed himself. He didn’t know the relationship between him and the McDonald’s manager.
An employee of an optometrist’s office next door to the restaurant, Sabrina Holweger, told The Associated Press that the woman who was killed there was the early morning manager and the gunman was an employee. Holweger said it appeared that the shooter killed the woman when she came to unlock the door to let him in.
George Suarez, owner/operator of Moultrie’s McDonald’s franchise, said in a statement the restaurant would 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,” he said.
Jerry Goodwin said the shooter lived with his mother, next door to his own house, with the grandmother on the other side. He told The AP that his wife heard gunshots between midnight and 1 a.m. Thursday morning, and that earlier this week, the young man had come outside shouting and fired a gun. Moultrie Police responded at that time, he said.
But police didn’t show up Thursday morning until shortly before 6 a.m.
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[Featured image: Kamira Smith/The Moultrie Observer via AP]