AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — A man arrested in connection with three interstate shootings in Alabama and Georgia had more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and an alarming number of firearms in his car, police said Thursday.
The Auburn Police Department also said they have so far not found a motive for the “apparently random shootings.” Jerel Raphael Brown, 39, of Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested in LaFayette, Alabama, on Wednesday after shootings were reported in Montgomery and Auburn. in Alabama and near Hogansville, Georgia.
Auburn Deputy Police Chief Michael Harris said authorities found “a large cache” of firearms and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition in Brown’s vehicle. Police released images of a table filled with what appeared to be three pistols, at least seven long guns with scopes, magazines and boxes of ammunition they said were recovered from the car.
“Because of the alarming amount of weapons recovered, combined with the actions of the suspect, there is no question that the immediate collaborative efforts of all agencies involved brought to an end an act of danger to the public that spanned multiple communities and in multiple states. Harris said.
Brown is charged with attempted murder and shooting into an unoccupied vehicle in connection with the Auburn shooting that seriously injured a 45-year-old motorist.
Brown is being held without bond and court records do not indicate whether he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Authorities had asked people to search for a white 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood after the three shootings were reported. In the Auburn shooting, a 45-year-old man from Prattville, Alabama, was critically injured by a shot that authorities say appeared to enter from the rear of the man’s vehicle. The victim was airlifted to a Montgomery hospital.
Harris said police began investigating the Auburn shooting around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday and later learned a shooting had occurred an hour earlier in Montgomery, Alabama, and then an hour later in the county. of Troup, Ga. The three communities are about 55 miles (88 kilometers) apart along Interstate 85.
A stretch of Interstate 85 in Auburn was closed for hours as police investigated.
No one was injured in the Georgia shooting. No details about the shooting in Montgomery were immediately released.
Brown also faces charges in Georgia of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon while committing a felony and first-degree criminal mischief, authorities said.
Troup County deputies in western Georgia said they identified the suspect vehicle using a traffic camera, allowing information about the car to be broadcast throughout the region. Authorities said that led to a Chambers County, Alabama, sheriff’s deputy stopping Brown and arresting him. Brown was later turned over to Auburn police.
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