A man who worked as a uniformed public safety officer at Grady Memorial Hospital was arrested and lost his job earlier this week after officials said he fired multiple gunshots during a road rage incident in Douglas County.
Units from the Douglasville Police Department and Douglas Sheriff’s Office responded to a section of I-20 between Fairburn and Chapel Hill roads Wednesday after getting reports of the shooting, the sheriff’s office said. Law enforcement officers were able to pull over two cars involved in the incident.
Alfred Watkins, 63, was taken into custody after he was identified as the shooter, according to the sheriff’s office. The agency identified Watkins as an officer at Grady and said investigators determined he had opened fire while both cars were traveling west on the interstate.
No one was injured and no property was damaged as a result of the shooting, the sheriff’s office said. An agency spokesman confirmed that the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident but said Watkins and the other driver didn’t know each other.
Watkins was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm on a roadway and reckless conduct, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the county jail, where he remains as he awaits a bond hearing.
A spokesperson for Grady told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Watkins is no longer employed by the hospital.
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