Georgia officials released security footage following the senseless death of a Valdosta State University student, shot dead over the weekend while finishing work at a Georgia bar.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 21-year-old dental hygiene student Brianna Long was fatally shot at around 2:40 a.m. Saturday while working at The Pier Bar (formerly known as Flip Flops) in Valdosta.
Police said that Long, slated to graduate next year, was an unintended victim as gunfire erupted from a dispute outside the bar, in the parking lot.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has now taken over the investigation, according to WALB. Video footage captured the incident as the shooting unfolded, but the grainy video doesn’t show who fired the shots.
“This shooting was senseless and believed to have stemmed from some type of altercation that took place outside The Pier,” GBI said in a statement.
“Regardless, an innocent person was killed due to someone else’s careless actions. Many people were endangered by these actions that took place. Additional patrons were outside still in the parking lot when the shooting took place.”
So far, investigators have not released information regarding the suspects or what sparked the altercation. Investigators are now searching for the shooter(s), but no additional information has been provided.
“They’re putting a lot of teens and a lot of people in this in one little space and expecting things not to go left when all these people, a lot of them are immature, childish, and under the influence,” witness Eboni Tomblin told ABC 27.
Channel 2 Action News reports that Long was the “Regional Winner for Positive Athlete Georgia” while attending Paulding County High School in the 2019-2020 school year.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the GBI Thomasville Office at 229-225-4090 or the Remerton Police Department at 229-247-2320. Anonymous tipsters should call 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), or submit a tip online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online,
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Brianna Long/GBI]
