3 months ago
Police officers shot and killed a suspected carjacker who tried to run officers down and then rammed a police car, according to Macon Police Sgt. Zac Self.
Self says 18-year-old Bradley Gastin and 20-year-old Tommy Hardy Jr. carjacked a man at Dannenberg Avenue and Holt Avenue in Macon around 4:20 Saturday afternoon. He says they made the man drive them to Lawton Avenue and Vine Street in his maroon 2000 Ford Expedition, then forced him out. Self says they fired at least one shot and drove off.
Self says police issued a lookout on the radio. Police spotted the SUV in Unionville and followed it onto Cedar Avenue where it begins at Montpelier Avenue, when it pulled into a parking lot.
A press release says the SUV turned around in the parking lot and attempted to run over the police officers who had got out of their cars. As the suspect vehicle accelerated, the officers fired multiple times striking the vehicle and the driver. The suspect vehicle continued forward and rammed the police vehicle moving it several feet.
The release says police officers then ordered the suspects out of the vehicle and took them into custody. They then discovered Gastin had been shot.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said Gastin was shot around 5 p.m. and pronounced dead at the Medical Center of Central Georgia around 5:30.
A release says the second suspect, 20-year-old Tommy Hardy Jr., was taken to the detective bureau. A handgun was also recovered inside the Expedition.
Hardy faces several charges including hijacking a motor vehicle, two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to the release.
More charges could be added pending further investigation.
