A 26-year-old police officer was fatally shot during his first shift for the Alamo Police Department, and the suspect is still at-large, Georgia officials said Saturday.
Dylan Harrison was killed outside the Alamo Police Department at 1:01 a.m. Saturday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. There is a $17,500 award for information leading to the arrest of the suspected killer, who was identified by officials as 43-year-old Damien Anthony Ferguson, aka Luke Ferguson.
Harrison was on his first shift working as a part-time officer for the police department in Alamo, about 90 miles southeast of Macon. He was a full-time drug task force agent in Eastman, Georgia, GBI spokesperson Natalie Ammons said at a press conference. He had been working in law enforcement since 2018, and before that served as an emergency dispatcher and at a campus police department, local news reports said.
He leaves behind a wife and a 6-month-old baby. Police departments across Middle Georgia offered condolences in social media posts Saturday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with this officer’s family, friends, and colleagues at the Alamo Police Department," Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a tweet. "May God continue to be with all who protect and serve."
Harrison was the first Alamo officer killed in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page that tracks law enforcement deaths. In January, Alamo Police Officer Arturo Villegas died from COVID-19 complications.
A Blue Alert — a public safety alert for a suspect who has injured or killed a police officer and is still a threat to the public — was issued for Ferguson.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ferguson previously served time for theft and aggravated assault on an officer.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
