Informant's tip led authorities to suspect in police shooting

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Mike Morris, mmorris@ajc.com DeKalb police Major Patrick White released details late Thursday morning on the arrest of suspect Michael Hughley.

DeKalb County Police Michael Hughey, 37, was arrested in connection with the shooting of a DeKalb County police officer Tuesday night.

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DeKalb County Police Dept, DeKalb County Police Dept Officer Deron Fulton, 24, of the DeKalb County Police Department was shot and wounded Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011 while attempting to take a man into custody after a traffic stop.

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Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com A K-9 unit searches a wooded area on Key Road at Woodham Way in DeKalb County for the suspect in the shooting of a Dekalb County police officer on Wednesday, August 24, 2011.

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Information from a confidential informant led authorities to the Henry County hotel room where accused DeKalb County cop shooter Michael Hughey was arrested early Thursday morning.

DeKalb police Major Patrick White told the AJC that Hughey, 37, had checked into the America’s Best Value Inn and Suites on Ga. 138 in Stockbridge on Wednesday, and apparently had plans to stay there for an extended length of time.

“There was a lot of clothing, a lot of food,” White said. “His intention was to stay there for quite a while. He had done an extended lease on the room.”

White said that when officers from DeKalb and Henry County police, along with the DeKalb sheriff’s Fugitive Squad and the U.S. Marshals office, knocked on the door to Hughey’s room about 2:30 a.m. Thursday, he came to the door and “was surprised that we had found him.”

Hughey tried to close the door, but offered no other resistance and was quickly taken into custody, White said.

“We have since secured a search warrant on the location and have located a 9mm handgun consistent with the weapon used against our officer,” White said. He said investigators were awaiting ballistics test to confirm that the gun was the weapon used to shoot Officer Deron Fulton Tuesday evening.

White said that Hughey, who is expected to make his first court appearance on Friday afternoon, “has been cooperative to this point.”

Hughey is charged with aggravated assault against a police officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

“We’re very happy to have him off the street,” White said. “He’s very dangerous. He shot at a police officer, which indicates that he’s willing to shoot at anyone.”

White said Hughey “is no stranger to law enforcement, to say the least. He’s been in and out of jail several times.

White did not have details on Hughey’s criminal history.

White said that the injured officer “is fine.” Fulton, 24,  was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital and released early Wednesday morning.

“It was a through-and-through wound,” White said. “He’s okay and in good spirits. Our detectives called him this morning to let him know we had the suspect in custody, and of course, he was happy to know that.”

Hughey was a passenger in a vehicle Fulton stopped about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 2200 block of Bouldercrest Road. Police were looking for Hughey for violating probation stemming from a prior drug conviction, Chief William O’Brien said Wednesday.

Hughey ran from the stop when he was identified, and Fulton chased after him, police said.

The two ended up in a church parking lot, where they exchanged gunfire. Fulton fired at least one shot before he was hit in the shoulder by a round fired by Hughey, DeKalb police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.

The incident comes just over a month after a sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed in nearby Clayton County. O’Brien said tensions were high among officers Tuesday night as a result.

“They all know the dangers,” he said.

Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this article