A man was injured in a shootout with deputies Saturday on Interstate 20 near the Alabama-Georgia border, officials said, one of three officer-involved shootings across Georgia over a four-hour span that morning.
The shootings, which left a man dead and two others in critical condition, occurred between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. at three different places -- a Roswell sports bar; the interstate in Haralson County; and a traffic stop in Snellville, officials said. The shootings remain under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The first shooting happened about 1 a.m. at Mazzy's Sports Bar and Grill along Alpharetta Highway. According to the GBI, Martin Candelas Ponce, 34, was shot by police after staff and customers called the authorities to report an "unruly patron" who was pointing a firearm at people.
When officers responded to the establishment in the Brannon Square shopping complex, they found Ponce sitting at the bar with a handgun, officials said.
Officers ordered him to drop his weapon, but Ponce reportedly didn't comply and instead raised it, the agency added. He was shot by a Roswell police officer and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Marcus Andrew Eaddy, 29, of Lithonia also remains in critical condition after he opened fire and was shot by Haralson County and St. Clair County, Ala., sheriff's deputies on the eastbound lanes of the interstate in Tallapoosa, just inside the Georgia line, according to the GBI.
No law enforcement members were injured during the encounter, which began about 3 a.m. Saturday when Hoover, Ala., police and Vestavia, Ala., police responded to calls about Eaddy, who was outside shooting an "AR-style gun," the state agency said.
When officers arrived, the suspect drove away in a dark-colored Chrysler with Georgia tags, according to the GBI. Several Alabama law enforcement agencies joined the pursuit, which continued through Alabama and onto I-20 toward Georgia.
While inside the Georgia state line, officials said Alabama law enforcement deployed spike strips to stop the car and the vehicle came to a rest between Exit 3 and Exit 5.
A shootout then ensued between Eaddy and deputies from Haralson and St. Clair counties, the state agency said. Eaddy was taken to the hospital.
The GBI said investigators found a handgun near Eaddy and an assault rifle inside his vehicle.
About 4 a.m. Saturday, officials said 36-year-old Rashawn Johnson was fatally shot by police in Snellville after he was pulled over for not having his headlights on.
During the traffic stop along West Main Street near Fountain Drive, the man rolled down his window "slightly" and repeated to the officer that he wanted to call his mother, according to the agency.
The GBI said Johnson later refused to roll down the window and comply with the officer's commands to get out of the vehicle. After telling Johnson he was under arrest for obstruction, the officer opened the door and spotted a gun, the state agency said. Johnson then opened fire and was struck, according to the GBI.
Officials did not say if Johnson fired the weapon at officers. Snellville police previously said Johnson pointed the firearm at his head.
"In recent years, the GBI has responded to three officer-involved shootings in less than 24 hours," GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It doesn't happen frequently, but it has happened. In general, our agency has had an uptick in requests to investigate OIS cases."