The man who was killed in a shootout with police that paralyzed traffic for hours on Georgia 400 southbound Friday had been reported missing months ago and was suffering from financial troubles, court records show.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday identified the man as Curtis Hicks, 52, of Marietta.
Police said they fatally shot Hicks after he shot Alpharetta police officer David Freeman and a female motorist following a routine traffic stop that led to a chase. Police have not yet identified the female.
Freeman was shot in the lower abdomen, right elbow, shoulder, leg and back. Police said both Freeman and the female motorist were recovering at North Fulton Hospital and were expected to be OK.
It was still unclear Saturday why Hicks fired on police. But a portrait of him started to emerge this weekend.
The homeowner’s association for Hicks’ neighborhood on Oak Harbor Trail sued him in October to collect about $6,400 in delinquent HOA dues going back to 2006, court records show. The total owed had reached about $10,000 this month, according to the HOA, and the association recently had his truck towed.
A Cobb County sheriff’s deputy attempting to deliver papers to Hicks in the HOA’s legal case in November could not locate him, reporting in court records that Hicks had not been home in several months and was “mentally unstable, reported missing per” Marietta police.
Marietta police on Saturday said Hicks’ father reported him missing in October. A Marietta police spokesman said authorities cleared that report in March after it appeared Hicks was avoiding his family.
Neighbors described Hicks as a quiet loner.
“He was a laidback guy,” said neighbor Jim Housley, who said he saw Hicks’ truck being towed from the neighborhood this week. “He kept to himself.”
Also Saturday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it is assisting with the investigation into the fatal shooting of Hicks.
“As with all such investigations, when completed, the investigative file will be turned over to [the] district attorney for review,” GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.
Further, Alpharetta police clarified the female motorist was shot once while police pursued Hicks through Roswell.
“The suspect was actively shooting from his vehicle at police during the pursuit,” said George Gordon, an Alpharetta police spokesman. “This… occurred on Alpharetta Highway in Roswell. The victim sustained a wound to her hip.”
After the female motorist was shot the suspect crashed just north of the Northridge Road exit, Gordon said. The man fled from his black Isuzu truck, shooting at the officers, hitting four patrol cars. Police returned fire and killed the suspect just off the highway, Gordon said.
The chain of events began around 8:30 p.m. Friday on Main Street in Alpharetta, where the suspect was pulled over for a tag violation in the parking lot of a Christian bookstore, Gordon said. The officer, wearing a safety vest, was shot as he approached the vehicle, though he was able to return fire, police said.
The suspect fled in his truck down Highway 9, where Roswell police joined the chase. It’s believed he accessed Ga. 400 at Holcomb Bridge Road, Gordon said, not far from where the pursuit ended.
Staff writer Christian Boone and staff photographer Ben Gray contributed to this report.
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