Georgia man Stephen Beck called police and then shoots responding officers, ‘wanted to die’
A Georgia man, described as a “recovering drug addict” told investigators he wanted police to kill him when he called 911 to get the officer to his south Georgia apartment complex and then opened fire, authorities said Saturday.
Identified as Stephen Paul Beck, 22, told police that he “wanted the police to shoot him as he wanted to die,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. The GBI said Beck told them he suffers from depression and does not hate police.
Crime Scene Tape photo/edited pic from FBI.gov
Authorities said Valdosta police officer Randall Hancock’s protective vest took some of the bullets, but he was hit once just below it, in the abdomen. Hancock’s body camera has been turned over to GBI.
Beck called 911 to report a vehicle break-in. Officer Hancock returned Beck’s fire and stopped the shooter. Both men are currently hospitalized: Officer Hancock is in stable condition, Beck is in serious condition.
The Georgia shooting came hours after a sniper in Dallas, Micah Johnson killed five officers and wounded seven more, but the GBI has said there’s no evidence to support a connection with the shootings in Dallas.
Taki Zambaras runs the treatment center where Beck was recently treated, saying that he was “an angry, insubordinate, very confused kid who wanted to leave every day,” Zambaras said, but he worked hard in the kitchen and at maintaining the long clay road leading to its doors.
“He left us in pretty good shape emotionally, physically and spiritually,” Zambaras said. “He kept in touch with us after he left and even came back and volunteered his time with guys who were going through the program.”
Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress confirmed that Officer Hancock is white, and the shooter is Asian American.
