DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Days after a deadly string of shootings across DeKalb County, officials gave a positive new update on the lone survivor.
The 49-year-old homeless victim shot outside Brookhaven’s Cherokee Plaza is still in critical condition, but Brookhaven police chief Brandon Gurley says the man is showing improvement.
Two women were killed in two other shootings, but Gurley tells the city council that police were able to quickly track down the suspect, 26-year-old Olaolukitan Adon Abel in Troupe County.
“Based on the nature of this crime, which I will not go into the detail of, I have no doubt in my mind in my 27 years career that this individual was on his way to commit further acts of violence,” said Gurley.
He says without Brookhaven’s technology it could have taken weeks, if not months to identify Abel who had previously been convicted of crimes in both Savannah and California.
Abel entered a guilty plea in 2025 in Chatham County to sexual battery for inappropriately touching women and was convicted in California on felony assault and vandalism charges in 2024.
WSB Radio’s Jennifer Perry contributed to this story.