Clayton County

Police ID man on the run they say escaped traffic stop, prompted officers to shoot at him

RIVERDALE, Ga. — Police in Clayton County continue searching for the driver they say ran from a traffic stop and then pulled out a gun as officers pursued.

Officers fired at the suspect but the driver got away. He’s now been identified as Garon Turner and is wanted on a charge of aggravated assault.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones saw several officers drive through a popular shopping center looking for the suspect.

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Some shoppers said they felt uneasy knowing a possibly dangerous suspect was still on the loose.

“Yeah. It just makes me feel kind of unsafe,” Jeremiah Campbell told Channel 2 Action News.

The incident happened on Upper Riverdale Road around 11:30 that night. Officers say they found a handgun at the scene Wednesday.

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Taxi Driver Adam Martinez was parked in the shopping center parking lot that night when he heard sirens and police flying down the road. “I’m talking about at least 30, 40 police. Out of nowhere. Just shutting the road down,” he said.

A day later, Martinez found it hard to believe the suspect was still on the loose.

“A traffic stop. How does a gentleman get away on foot and not be visible?” he wondered aloud.

Several officers also searched the nearby Centennial Ridge apartments looking for the suspect.

Stanley Rickerson says his wife saw the driver as police pursued him Wednesday night.

“When she went past him and he went down there. So they asked us which way he went and she say he went down that way,” he said.

Rickerson believes the suspect is still in the complex. “They got fences going all the way around the complex so if they didn’t see him jump no fence he got to be out here in one of these houses,” he told Channel 2 Action News.

Martinez said there are too many kids in the area for a suspect, possibly dangerous, to be on the loose.

“So I just pray that they capture him and he doesn’t harm nobody,” Martinez added.

Clayton County police have identified the suspect as Garon Turner. They said he is wanted for aggravated assault.

Residents at the complex said they would like to know something about the suspect so they can alert the police if they see them.

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