Man suspected in homicide arrested following chase

State troopers arrested a murder suspect Wednesday afternoon on I-285 following a pursuit.

About 12:30 p.m., a trooper tried to initiate a traffic stop on a Chevrolet Camaro in the South Fulton area, the Georgia State Patrol said. Calvin Woodard of Lithonia, who was wanted on a murder charge out of Union City, was driving the vehicle.

He’s charged in the shooting death of Byron Davis, who was among four people shot in Union City during a violent Friday afternoon in July.

Union City police spokesman Officer Jerome Turner Jr. said Woodard shot two people, while the other gunshot victims were injured in unrelated shootings.

Woodard is accused of fleeing from Wednesday’s attempted stop, which was along U.S. 29 near Bluffington Road. A chase ensued, traveling through South Fulton and into East Point, the GSP said.

At some point, Woodard threw a handgun out of the window along with multiple bags of suspected narcotics, the GSP said. Those items were later recovered.

The pursuit continued onto I-285 North, and a trooper performed a PIT maneuver near Camp Creek Parkway to end the chase, the GSP said.

Woodard was taken into custody without further incident. No one was injured.

The chase ended a little after 12:45 p.m.

Troopers turned the suspect over to Union City police.

Woodard faces counts of murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and discharging a firearm near a highway, police said.

As of Wednesday evening, he had not been booked into the Fulton County Jail, according to online records.