Georgia Police Hunt For Tafahree Maynard, Man Accused Of Killing Police Officer
Gwinnett County Officer Antwan Toney was killed Saturday when responding to an anonymous 911 call. Police have arrested 19-year-old Isaiah Pretlow and charged him with aggravated assault, but 18-year-old Tafahree Maynard remains at large. Police conducted a search of the area where Maynard was last seen Saturday evening, but have had no luck. Police will charge Toney with aggravated assault and felony murder once he is apprehended.
Law enforcement received an anonymous 911 call Saturday afternoon about a suspicious vehicle parked near Shiloh Middle School, as reported by CNN. As 30-year-old Officer Antwan Toney approached the four-door black sedan, Maynard fired a weapon while seated inside the car. Another officer shot back at the vehicle and dragged Toney’s body from the scene. He was taken to the hospital, where he later passed away. After the exchange of gunfire, the sedan fled the scene without an officer in pursuit and crashed about a mile away. The passengers exited the vehicle and fled the scene. Officials believe Pretlow was driving the vehicle.
RT RikkiKlausWSB: BREAKING via TonyThomasWSB: Tafahree Maynard (pictured below) being sought — charged with murder. Isaiah Pretlow charged with aggravated assault. pic.twitter.com/4dcTkg9EoW – wsbtv
— Channel 1 America (@channel1atlanta) October 21, 2018
While running from the sedan, Pretlow pointed his gun at a police officer who had previously shot at him. It’s this incident that resulted in Pretlow’s aggravated assault charge. He was not apprehended at this time, having fled into a nearby wooded area. Hours later, United States Marshalls found him and took him into custody. Despite a Saturday evening canvas of the area on foot and by helicopter — that employed both K9 and SWAT teams — neither Maynard nor any other passengers in the car were located.
Details about where he was shot or the nature of his wounds have not been released. As many as four other passengers were inside the car. Police have not released details on whether any of them were injured by the gunfire from law enforcement.
Officer Toney was a security guard before becoming part of the Gwinnett County police force almost three years ago. Colleagues described him as “a very jovial person who was dedicated to his job and dedicated to his community” according to Chief of Police Butch Ayers. His death is the first to happen in the Gwinnett County Police Department in the line of duty since May 1993, when an officer was killed during a traffic accident. Prior to that, it had been nearly 30 years since the department had an officer die in the line of duty. In 1964, three officers were shot dead.
Toney’s death was the second fatal shooting of a law enforcement officer in the last week, with the first being North Carolina State Trooper Kevin K. Conner, who was killed during a traffic stop near the South Carolina border this past Wednesday. A suspect has been arrested for that incident.
