Man dead, officer wounded in shooting outside a state prison

DAVISBORO, Ga. – A Georgia corrections officer was shot and a man was killed after officers got into a shooting with men suspected of trying to smuggle contraband onto the grounds of a state prison, authorities say.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in news release that the shooting happened Sunday on the perimeter of Washington State Prison near Davisboro, about 120 miles (195 kilometres) southeast of Atlanta.

The state agency said K-9 officers with the Georgia Department of Corrections were responding to a suspected contraband drop. The officers got into a shooting with 26-year-old Marquavious Rashod Parks of Athens, the GBI said in a news release. Parks was found dead in a nearby pond.

One officer was shot and treated at a hospital in Augusta for non-life-threatening injuries.

Law enforcement officers took another man, 51-year-old John Frank Snow of Monroe, into custody. The state agency said multiple charges are pending against Snow including charges of murder and aggravated assault against a peace officer.

It is not immediately clear if Snow has an attorney.

The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Parks. The GBI said investigators believe items found at the scene were intended to be smuggled into the prison.

The agency did not say what the items were. The state law enforcement agency is investigating the shooting at the request of the prison system and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The findings will be submitted to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.