Athens-Clarke County police are looking for three men they suspect were part of a kidnapping in March that led to the shooting of two officers, one of them fatally.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation sketch artist developed renderings of the three men based on descriptions offered by witnesses who saw them abandon the car of the kidnap victim, Judon Antron Brooks, on Old Winterville Road, according to Capt. Clarence Holeman.
“We are still trying to find out what this was all about. What the motive was,” Holeman said of the kidnapping. Police are hoping the sketches will help them identify the three men who allegedly took part in the kidnapping along with Jamie Hood, 33. Hood had asked Brooks to come to a house on Ranick Road east of downtown Athens on Tuesday, March 22, police said.
Several armed men, their faces hidden by ski masks, were waiting, according to a police incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They forced Brooks to the ground and demanded the addresses of several people.
According to the report, Hood bound Brooks and tossed him into the trunk of a brown Cadillac.
As they drove, Brooks escaped and his suspected kidnappers sped away.
Shortly after Brooks told police what had happened to him, Athens-Clarke County police officer Tony Howard tried to stop Hood, who was driving an SUV west of downtown Athens. Hood allegedly fired several shots, wounding Howard.
Hood then ran. But when officer Elmer "Buddy" Christian, drove up in his cruiser, Hood allegedly shot and killed the 34-year-old father.
Hood was taken into custody late the following Friday after he released nine hostages he had been holding for several hours and surrendered on live TV.
Hood is being held without bond in the Barrow County Jail. He has not yet been indicted.
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