Man charged with murder in Georgia lawman’s shooting

Jerand Ross, 24, is charged with murder in the shooting death of Maj. Greg Barney, a 25-year Riverdale police veteran.

ATLANTA — A suspect accused of gunning down a Georgia lawman has been charged with murder in the death of the 25- year police veteran. The fallen officer was struck by two shots as he helped colleagues serve a “no knock” search warrant at an apartment complex near Atlanta, authorities said Friday.

Maj. Greg Barney, a well-known figure in the community of Riverdale, died following surgery after Thursday’s shooting, said Riverdale Police Chief Todd Spivey.

Friends and colleagues were in mourning and two candles glowed outside police headquarters in the small suburban city of about 15,000.

Barney was shot while helping Clayton County officers serve a search warrant at an apartment complex in Riverdale, south of Atlanta’s airport. Riverdale officers, including Barney, were guarding the perimeter while Clayton County police entered the apartment, police said.

When officers entered the apartment, Jerand Ross, 24, bolted through a back door, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday. Barney chased Ross, who shot him once in the abdomen and once in an arm, according to the statement.

The statement added that a Clayton County officer, Lt. Francisco Romero, pursued Ross as he ran behind the apartment buildings.

After a short chase, Ross pointed a handgun at Romero, who shot the 24- year- old in the head, the GBI statement added.

Ross remains hospitalized at Atlanta Medical Center and is expected to survive, GBI spokesman Scott Dutton said Friday.

A Georgia Bureau of Investigations officer carries evidence from the scene of a fatal police shooting in Riverdale.

Delcia Lopez /

Investigators claim a priest assaulted and killed Irene Garza after confession in Texas in 1960.

ter hearing her confession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, where he was a priest.

Her body was found days later. An autopsy determined Garza, who was named Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958, had been raped while unconscious and was beaten and suffocated.

Feit’s arrest Tuesday followed other investigations over the years, including a grand jury probe in 2004 that concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

It was unclear if Ross had an attorney.

The GBI’s investigation includes observations from a witness, who saw Ross with two handguns while fleeing from the officers, according to the GBI statement.

“The witness saw Ross throw one of the handguns into the woods behind an apartment building,” the GBI said in a statement. That gun was later found by a police dog.

The San Antonio Express-News via AP

“We thought the whole thing was settled. This has been going on for 50 years now,” said Matthias Feit, John Feit’s 92-yearold brother.

Matthias Feit, from Phoenix, said he did not know if his sibling had hired an attorney. Court records in Arizona did not list a lawyer for him.

John Feit has said he plans to fight extradition to Texas. While extradition is the first problem prosecutors will face, it probably will not be the most difficult one.

John Spink /

AJC via AP

Barney’s body was taken to the GBI headquarters, where an autopsy was planned.

After the shooting, a flower wreath was left outside Riverdale police headquarters. WSB- TV showed images of two candles glowing outside the police department’s entrance. At a nearby church, Frances Lee said a message was being put on the sign: “Our prayers are with the Barney family.”

ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman spent an entire day in an old oak tree to protect it from Georgia Power chain saws.

Local media outlets report that Jennifer Firestone climbed into what she says is a 100-year-old oak tree Thursday and stayed there for most of the day.

Firestone and some neighbors at Cross Creek Condos in Northwest Atlanta are protesting the removal of trees in the area.

Georgia Power spokeswoman Ashley Stukes says the company is cutting down the trees in connection with a large-scale infrastructure project to ensure reliability to hundreds of thousands of customers.

Neither police officers nor firefighters could talk Firestone down from the tree.

The fate of the tree is unclear. Stukes says the company will work with condo management to minimize impact to the trees through the entire project.