Man charged with deadly shooting of Georgia police officer on first shift of new job
WHEELER COUNTY, Ga. - The man wanted in connection to the deadly shooting of a Georgia police officer has been taken into custody, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Sunday.
Damien Ferguson, who is also known as Luke Ferguson, was taken into custody without incident by the State of Georgia SWAT team, officials said.
Damien Ferguson (Georgia Department of Public Safety)
In a Tweet, the GBI said, Damien Ferguson "was wanted in connection to the shooting death of Alamo PD Officer Dylan Harrison".
According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, Ferguson was captured less than 1 mile from where Alamo Police Officer Dylan Harrison was murdered.
A manhunt was previously underway for Ferguson and authorities issued a $17,500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
During the search, law enforcement issued a blue alert due to Ferguson's threat to the public.
26-year-old Officer Dylan Harrison was married and the father to a 6-month-old baby. He was shot while working his very first shift as an officer in the department.
Alamo Police Department officer Dylan Harrison — a 26-year-old Dudley native with a wife and 6-month-old child — was shot and killed outside the police station. It was his first shift working part-time with the Alamo Police Department. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
At around 1 a.m., Harrison was shot and killed outside the police station.
The shooting happened in Wheeler County, about 90 miles southeast of Macon and about 124 miles west of Savannah.
GEORGIA OFFICER FATALLY SHOT ON FIRST DAY WITH ALAMO POLICE DEPARTMENT, GBI SAYS
Multiple local and state law enforcement agencies collaborated to investigate.
GBI, Alamo police update search for gunman in deadly officer shooting
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Alamo Police Department held a joint press conference to update the search for the gunman who killed 26-year-old Officer Dylan Harrison early Saturday morning during his first shift in Alamo, Georgia on Oct. 9, 2021. This feed is provided by the GBI.
In addition to Officer Harrison being a part-time Alamo Police Department officer, he also was a full-time task force agent with the Oconee Drug Task Force in Eastman, according to the GBI. He has been in law enforcement since 2018.
Harrison was the first Alamo officer killed in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page that tracks law enforcement deaths. In January, Alamo Police Officer Arturo Villegas died from COVID-19 complications.
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