Murder suspect who shot APD marshal had gunned down mother of 4 just days earlier, officers say

ATLANTA, Ga. — Police say a man accused of shooting an Atlanta police officer working for the U.S. Marshals Office shot a mother of four to death just days earlier in a domestic violence incident.

Police said Derrick Rankins, 33, had been on the run since August 20. That’s when police said he killed Courtney Reese, 32, after an argument on Springside Drive.

Officers responded to the scene around 9 p.m. and found Reese suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving efforts, she died.

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It’s unclear what the relationship was between Reese and Rankins.

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Reese’s neighbor Gwendolyn Fuller said she was a kind person who was a caring mother of four.

“Her kids are motherless and I feel she didn’t deserve that,” Fuller said.

She said she remembers coming back from a trip to Kroger to find her house had become a crime scene.

“They told me a person on my porch had been shot,” Fuller said.

Her Ring camera captured Reese running to Fuller’s porch as a man approached her.

Reese can be heard screaming and pleading for her life as the man cocked his gun.

“He looked like he didn’t have any remorse. He was so calm,” Fuller said.

The man emptied an entire magazine into her before walking away, leaving Reese bleeding on the porch.

The next day Atlanta police issued an arrest warrant for Rankins.

On Tuesday, dozens of officers surrounded a home that Rankins had barricaded himself inside after officers tried to serve him a warrant. At some point, Rankin started shooting, wounding an 18-year veteran assigned to the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force. The officer, who has not been identified, is expected to survive.

Rankins was found dead inside the home. It’s unclear how he died.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, writing:

“Please join me in keeping our APD Investigator in your prayers as he recovers from being shot in the line of duty while serving a warrant. I spoke with him briefly and thankfully his injuries were to the arm and are not life-threatening. While authorities are still gathering details, we do know that the suspect was wanted for murder in our city — a horrible act of domestic violence that took the life of a mother of four — and this man barricaded himself in the house, shot at law enforcement and had no business having a gun in the first place. Domestic violence is a national crisis, and we must all band together and say, ‘no more.’ Thank you to all our public safety officials who run toward danger each and every day and thank you to the professionals at Grady Hospital who give world-class care.”

Reese’s family has set up a GoFundMe to help with her funeral expenses.

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