The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating a shootout outside a prison in East Georgia that left an officer wounded and led to the death of one of the suspects involved.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Department of Corrections requested the assistance of the GBI on Monday following Sunday night's shootout on the perimeter of the Washington State Prison in Davisboro.
"Preliminary information indicates that on Sunday, December 27, 2020, at approximately 10:39 p.m., two men were in Washington County for a contraband drop at the Washington State Prison in Davisboro, GA," read a press release from the GBI.
An officer at the scene exchanged gunfire with Marquavious Rashod Parks, 26, of Athens. As a result, the corrections officer was hit. He was taken to a hospital in Augusta with non-life-threatening injuries, He was treated and released. His name has not been made public.
The GBI said Parks was found dead in a nearby pond. It is unclear how he died. The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Parks' body.
Agents said officers believed the items discovered at the scene were intended to be smuggled into the prison; they did not say what type of contraband was involved.
A second suspect, identified as John Frank Snow, 51, of Monroe was arrested. Snow has been charged with aggravated assault against a peace officer and felony murder; additional charges are likely.
The investigation so far indicates that the contraband items found at the scene were intended to be introduced into the prison.
The GBI will continue its independent investigation of the officer involved shooting. Upon completion, it will be submitted to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office for next steps.
Parks had had run-ins with law enforcement in North Georgia in the past. Five years ago, he was implicated in an incident in Jackson County tied to a string of burglaries in the area,
