Three people, including a suspected gunman, were shot north of Gainesville Friday in what authorities are calling a "random act of violence."
At a press conference just before 2 p.m. Friday, Derrreck Booth, Public Information Officer with the Hall County Sheriff's Office, said the incident unfolded around noon when the county's 911 call center began receiving reports of shots being fired on Georgia 365 north of the Howard Road intersection.
"The victims at that point didn't know where the gunshots had come from," Booth said.
He said deputies responded to the area and saw what they thought was a suspicious vehicle pulling out of the woodline onto the highway. Booth said the Georgia State Patrol was in the area at the time and saw the vehicle, as well, and attempted to stop it. It was then that the suspect fled.
"It was a very short pursuit. The suspect stopped in the median of 365 and authorities at that point observed the man unconscious in the vehicle, injured from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Booth said.
Booth confirmed what Hall County Fire Services said right after the incident - two people sustained gunshot wounds.
"Both [are] in stable condition. A total of three vehicles were hit by gunfire, but two people were injured," Booth said. The men who were hit were in separate vehicles. Both are being treated at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Hall County Sheriff's Office Lt. Scott Ware told reporters that he understood the suspected gunman had been taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta for treatment. He described the man's injuries as "critical."
Ware said authorities know who the suspect is, but at this point, his identity is being withheld. As for a motive, Ware said he didn't know.
"We believe it was a random act of violence," Ware said. "We know of no known affiliation or motivation for the shooting."
Ware did not release the identities of those who were injured. He also said other details of the incident would be withheld pending the outcome of the investigation.
Booth updated the incident around 5:30 Friday and said the suspect had since died.
