A man wanted for murder shot himself Monday after authorities attempted to question him about four inmates who had escaped a Georgia prison, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, having received a tip that someone at a Macon apartment might have information related to the escape, arrived at the residence and were greeted by gunshots fired through the door by someone inside, Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said, according to AP.
A SWAT team arrived on the scene, and a woman inside the apartment led them to a man, Christian D. Williams, who had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, deputies said, according to the outlet.
“Let me make that clear — [Williams] is not one of our escapees. But he is a person that we feel has knowledge of where they might be, that has knowledge of the escape, and who has some connection to at least one or two of the people we’re looking for,” the sheriff stated, the outlet noted.
A man shot and wounded himself when officers sought to question him about four escapees from a Georgia jail, authorities say. https://t.co/OukKlMFoyP
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 23, 2023
Williams, had been missing since the day before his March 6 court date for a murder trial, in which he faced charges for a 2021 shooting at a Macon convenience store, per AP. Officials revealed that a security camera captured footage of Williams being assaulted and kidnapped outside his residence and that his ankle monitor was dead at the time, with Bibb suggesting that the incident may have been staged.
“It is sort of suspicious that a person gets kidnapped under surveillance cameras on the day that they were supposed to appear in court,” Davis said previously, according to AP. (RELATED: Man Shoots Girlfriend And Himself At Whataburger On Valentine’s Day: Reports)
As of Monday, Williams remained in a critical condition at a hospital. Police arrested Mykia M. Williams — the woman at the apartment — and charged her with aiding an escape, per the AP. Whether the two are related remains unclear.
The escapees, identified as Joey Fournier, Marc Kerry Anderson, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell and Chavis Demaryo Stokes, broke out of the Bibb County jail on Oct. 16. A combined reward of $73,000 is being offered for information leading to their capture. The fugitives have been convicted of serious crimes, including murder, aggravated assault and federal drug chargesyy.