Moultrie police, Colquitt County sheriff’s investigators and agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation process the scene where an employee was shot to death Thursday morning at McDonald’s on First Avenue Southeast.

Originally posted 9:51 a.m. May 4, 2023

Updated 4:53 p.m. May 4, 2023

MOULTRIE — All roadways that were blocked to allow the investigation of Thursday morning’s shooting have been reopened.

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Updated 4:07 p.m. May 4, 2023

MOULTRIE — Officials are withholding the names of victims in this morning’s shooting as they seek next of kin, but they have described the relationships among them.

A 26-year-old man shot his 50-year-old mother and 74-year-old grandmother to death at neighboring houses on Sixth Street Southwest this morning, Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock told The Observer this afternoon. 

Brock said the address he has for the man is the same as his mother, and his grandmother lived next door.

After that the man went to McDonald’s on First Avenue Southeast, where he shot the 41-year-old assistant manager to death then killed himself, Brock said. The coroner said he didn’t know what the connection was between the man and the McDonald’s employee.

Brock said he was in Macon when got the call about 9 a.m. and returned to Moultrie to pronounce the victims dead at 11:05 a.m. He estimated the shootings happened between 7 and 9.

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Posted 3:00 p.m. May 4, 2023

MOULTRIE – Georgia Pines, the state-contracted mental health provider for the region, and the Moultrie Police Department Co-Responder Team are offering their services to local community members following incidents with multiple fatalities Thursday morning.

“Due to the situations that have happened recently as well as concerns of overall mental health, we want to remind community members that Georgia Pines is available to provide services for them,” Julio Ginel, a Georgia Pines clinical co-responder, said Thursday by phone.

Ginel explained that Georgia Pines offers individual counseling and can create support groups based on the community’s need.

“In addition, our co-responder team is also available in the event that residents experience a crisis,” he said.

Residents in need of the co-responder team can request service through 911. The Georgia Pines crisis line is 1-800-715-4225. The Moultrie Georgia Pines office can be contacted at (229) 891-7375.

The offer of assistance came as Moultrie police and Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents continue to investigate fatal incidents at Moultrie’s McDonald’s restaurant and a residence on Sixth Street Southwest. Investigators released very little information Thursday morning and nothing so far Thursday afternoon as they continue to process the scenes.

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Originally posted 9:51 a.m. May 4, 2023

MOULTRIE – Police are on the scene at the McDonald’s restaurant in the 500 block of First Avenue Southeast following an early morning shooting.

Roads on all sides of the restaurant, including the usually busy First Avenue, have been closed to aid in the investigation. Residents should detour around the area.

The Moultrie Police Department has requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to conduct an investigation on the incident.

“We are investigating multiple incidents and there are fatalities involved,” Jamy Steinberg, GBI special agent in charge for Region 9, said by email Thursday morning.

MPD Chief of Police Sean Ladson said there is not an immediate threat to the public.

Investigators are very early in their search, the officials said, so they declined to disclose additional information.