A hit-and-run suspect who allegedly fired at Gwinnett County police following a crash was found dead in Lake Lanier, authorities said.
Officers began searching for the man about 4:15 p.m. Friday after a wreck involving a stolen car, Gwinnett police said in a news release. The incident occurred at the intersection of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Shadburn Ferry Road in Buford.
The man, identified by the GBI as 26-year-old John James Monahan Jr. of Ellabell in Bryan County, used an AK-style rifle to carjack another driver who was involved in the wreck, authorities said.
“After the collision, the suspect fled the scene with a rifle,” Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Pihera said. “There are reports that he discharged his firearm at responding officers as they tried to catch up to him.”
Officers followed him into Shoal Creek Park, where Monahan eventually drove into Lake Lanier, the release said.
That’s when he began to fire at officers, police said. A patrol car was hit several times by gunfire, but no officers were injured. Police returned fire before the car sank to the bottom with the suspect still inside.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s dive team found a body in the area near the vehicle, the release said.
The GBI was contacted to investigate the officer-involved shooting, making this the 18th such investigation the agency has opened this year.
Monahan’s autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning, authorities said.
The 17th officer-involved shooting investigation was launched Thursday after DeKalb County police shot and killed a 75-year-old man who refused to drop a weapon outside his home, the GBI said.
MORE: GBI ID's man who was shot, killed outside home during confrontation with DeKalb cops
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