The Fulton County Police Department would like to express it's sincerest "THANKS" to every Law Enforcement Agency and it's personnel, the News Media, and all citizens for their help and information in solving this case.
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SLAYING OF OFFICER
By MIKE MORRIS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
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The man wanted in the killing of Fulton County police Officer Aaron Blount was arrested Sunday at a bus station in Miami.
Kenneth Gerald Reese, 26, was taken into custody by U.S. marshals and Miami-Dade police "without incident" shortly after noon at the Greyhound station, said Fulton County police Chief George Coleman.
Blount, also 26, was shot three times in his police cruiser Tuesday night after leaving his Old National Highway precinct and going out on patrol in the Red Oak community in south Fulton County.
In announcing the arrest Sunday, Coleman credited tips from the community. A rewards fund seeking information in the case reached at least $40,000.
"From the get-go, we were asking for assistance from the public and we got that," he said.
Coleman said police and the federal marshals tracked Reese to Florida, but investigators weren't sure why he went to Miami. "It's unsure to us whether he had friends or family in that area," Coleman said.
He said police believe Reese fled metro Atlanta "relatively soon" after Tuesday night's shooting and headed to Florida.
The chief said it was his understanding that Reese was not armed when he was arrested while sitting in the bus station.
"We feel he was trying to get out of Miami," he said. "His destination from there we really don't know."
Coleman said investigators do not expect to make any more arrests in the case "unless Mr. Reese confides something to us that we're not aware of at this time. We feel like this is the only individual involved."
Reese has no arrest record, Coleman said, only some minor traffic violations. Coleman said police have found "nothing in his past to indicate a violent criminal background."
Reese is being held in a Metro-Dade police facility, Coleman said. He said he was sending two detectives to South Florida to interview Reese, but didn't yet know whether Reese would fight extradition back to Georgia.
Coleman said investigators had not determined a motive for the officer's shooting.
He said police dispatchers Tuesday night had "no indication" that Blount was in "any kind of distress" or was checking out suspicious activity before another officer found him fatally wounded at the intersection of Roosevelt Highway and Ben Hill Road.
The funeral for the officer will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church, 534 Fairburn Road N.W.
A wake for Blount, the third Fulton County officer to be killed in the line of duty, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Murray Brothers Funeral Home Cascade Chapel, 1199 Utoy Springs Road S.W. A public viewing is also scheduled at the funeral home from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.