The man who ambushed and shot a Valdosta Police officer outside an apartment complex Friday has been transported to South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta yesterday. Stephen Beck has been receiving medical care since he was shot exchanging gunfire with VPD Officer Randall Hancock while attempting suicide-by-cop. Officer Hancock is also recovering after being shot three times in the incident. While at SGMC, Beck will be under the 24-hour surveillance of multiple armed officers.
Public Health officials are encouraging South Georgians to wear mosquito spray whenever outdoors to guard against mosquito-borne illnesses after a horse in Lowndes County tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis. While there are EEE and West Nile Virus vaccines available for horses, there is no vaccine for humans to prevent mosquito-borne illness.
Corrections officials in Georgia have partially lifted lockdown conditions at Valdosta State Prison and five other state prisons that faced the restrictions after numerous instances of violence related to gang tensions. An inmate died after he was found unresponsive June 11 at Calhoun State Prison. And multiple fights on June 20 at Smith State Prison sent 16 inmates to the hospital.
A group gathered yesterday at the old Valdosta Courthouse to rally behind shooting victims. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference spear-headed the rally. They said they wanted to stand in support with protesters across the country, speaking out against police violence.
People gathered Tuesday night at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church to honor five police officers killed last week in Dallas and a Valdosta officer who was attacked the next day. The vigil opened with a prayer as United for Life came together to honor the officers killed Thursday in Dallas. They also prayed for Valdosta Officer Randall Hancock who was shot Friday at an apartment complex.
Valdosta cut the ribbon on the new $23 million dollar Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wetherington Road yesterday. the event also celebrated the completion of the Force Main Project, which includes the construction of a 6.2-mile force main, four new lift stations, a new headworks structure, and a 6-million-gallon equalization basin—a project funded by more than $37 million in low-interest GEFA loans. The two projects represent the investment of more than $60 million in the city’s sewer collection system over the past three years.
The July 18 deadline is approaching for the Hoot-Owl Amateur Golf event at the Francis Lake Golf Course in Lake Park on July 30. For more information and to download a registration form, visit ValdostaToday.com
Colquitt County residents are coming together to raise funds for the families of the five best friends killed back in May. Mo Town Customs has planned a memorial car show for Alicia Norman, Jones Pidcock, Jordan Croft, Jonathan Edwards and Reid Williams. They were shot and killed inside their home on Rossman Dairy Road before it was set on fire. Owner Sherry Evans said that they’re having a car wash on Saturday, in an effort to raise funds for the car show scheduled on August 13.
Two Colquitt County inmates are facing new charges for crimes investigators say they committed behind bars. Newly-installed surveillance cameras captured one inmate setting fire to a pile of paper inside the jail. They say the inmates set the fire because they were angry that the TVs weren’t working in their pod.
