Man accused in fatal midtown Atlanta shooting hospitalized
ATLANTA — A man accused of fatally shooting a woman on a midtown Atlanta street in broad daylight was hospitalized after jail guards found him biting his left arm and spitting blood, authorities said Wednesday.
Raylon Browning, 39, was being treated at a hospital and was unable to make his first court appearance, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said. Browning was arrested in the Monday morning shooting of Trinh Hong Huynh and is also accused of stabbing two people in midtown Atlanta on Sunday.
Atlanta police said Tuesday they were trying to determine motive and whether Browning and Huynh knew each other. Browning was acquainted with the stabbing victims, police spokeswoman Officer Lisa Bender said.
Both attacks happened in a business district near museums, Georgia Tech and the sprawling Piedmont Park.
Police in neighboring Cobb County pulled Browning over Monday evening after they said he ran a red light. They saw that he had outstanding warrants related to the Sunday stabbings and took him into custody.
While doing an inventory of his vehicle, police found a gun that is a preliminary match to the one used to shoot Huynh, and they also found a hooded sweatshirt consistent with the one worn by the shooting suspect in a surveillance video. Browning was also wearing shorts and shoes that matched those in the video.
As Browning was in the Fulton County jail booking area about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, he punched another inmate in the face four times for no apparent reason, according to an incident report. When he ignored a guard’s orders to stop hitting the other inmate, the guard used her stun gun on him and he fell to the ground, the report said.
A guard assigned to the jail medical clinic was doing rounds about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noticed Browning biting his left arm and spitting blood, according to an incident report. Another deputy put on a hazmat suit, entered the cell and wrestled Browning to the ground. When Browning refused to obey orders to stop resisting, a lieutenant used his stun gun on Browning, who then put his arms behind his back, the report said.
Browning faces felony charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor simple battery charge.