The Gwinnett County Police Department responded to a car accident on Friday, February 21. The accident occurred at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Shadburn Ferry Road.
26-year-old John James Monahan Jr. of Ellabell was involved in this accident. He got out of the car with an AK-style rifle and then carjacked another car.
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Officers on the scene of that accident attempted to stop Monahan. He drove into Shoal Creek Park. Then he drove through the park to Lake Lanier.
Not only did Monahan drive to the lake, but he also drove into the lake. As the car was sinking, he began firing shots at the police officers.
Police returned fire at the sinking vehicle with Monahan still inside of it.
None of the police officers were injured from Monahan’s gunfire. One of the police vehicles was a different story. It was hit several times by Monahan’s gunfire.
After the car had sunk, police officers searched for Monahan. A diving team eventually pulled his body from the lake. They found him near the sunken car.
Since this is an officer-involved shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified Monahan on Saturday afternoon.
They have scheduled the autopsy for Monday.
If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are urged to call in and talk to detectives at 770-513-5300. They can also call Crime Stoppers to report any information at 404-577-8477.
It has not been released why Monahan ran from the cops after the accident, to begin with. They have not disclosed if Monahan was under the influence when the initial accident occurred. This should be answered when the autopsy is completed.
Updates will be made available once they are released to the public.