atlanta — A third person has yet died A series of shootings In the Atlanta area.
Police in Brookhaven say Tony Matthews, a 49-year-old homeless man, died Sunday from his injuries after being shot in the early morning hours of April 13 outside a grocery store.
Authorities say they are seeking an additional murder charge against Olukitan Adon Abel, a 26-year-old former US Navy SEAL who is already accused of killing two others in the same series of attacks.
Authorities did not provide a possible motive Attacks. but, The roommates said Shortly before the shooting, Appel walked out of his group home after getting into a heated argument about the home’s air conditioning, the Associated Press reported.
One of the other victims was an auditor for the Department of Homeland Security who was walking her dog near the suspect’s home.
Abel, a citizen of the United Kingdom, obtained US citizenship in 2022 while serving in the US Navy and stationed in the San Diego area.
He has already been charged in Georgia state court with two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and gun crimes. He also faces a federal firearms charge, along with another man accused of purchasing the gun used for him in the shooting. Abel had previously been convicted of a felony and was unable to legally purchase a gun himself.
After leaving the home, Abel traveled about 5 miles (8 kilometers) and shot and killed 31-year-old Brianna Weathers outside a Decatur fast food restaurant at 12:50 a.m., investigators said.
Police say that at about 2 a.m., Appel shot Matthews outside a supermarket in Brookhaven, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the first attack.
Homeland Security worker Lauren Polis, who was walking her dog a few hundred feet from Adon Appel’s home, was found around 7 a.m. with gunshot wounds and stab wounds.
It’s unclear if Appel knew any of the victims, but police said they believe at least one victim was randomly targeted.
Georgia State Patrol troopers stopped Adon Appel’s car around 11 a.m. Monday in Troup County, not far from the Georgia-Alabama line. Investigators said they found ammunition and shell casings inside the car that matched those found at the scene of Withers’ killing. Police found gun and shell casings on the ground near Polis.
The shooting incidents prompted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen to raise concerns about granting Adon Appel citizenship while Democrat Joe Biden was president. Mullen cataloged a series of previous alleged crimes for the defendant, but it is unclear whether any of them occurred before he became a citizen.
Adon Abel pleaded guilty in October 2024 in San Diego County, California, to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal vandalism in what authorities there said was an attack on two police officers and another person, according to California court records.
Online court records show that a person listed with a similar name and same date of birth pleaded guilty last June in Chatham County, Georgia, to four misdemeanor counts of sexual assault.