Man Indicted On Murder Charges In Fatal Shooting Of Gwinnett Officer

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A jury on Wednesday indicted the man accused of fatally shooting a Gwinnett County police officer and injuring another, and prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty.

The jury indicted Kevin Andrews, Jr., 35, on charges of malice murder, felony murder and other charges in connection with the Feb. 1 shooting death of Senior Officer Pradeep Tamang, 25, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said Thursday. The shooting also seriously injured Master Police Officer David Reed.

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Andrews faces the following charges: malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of unlawful criminal gang activity, identity fraud, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm by a felon during the commission of a crime.

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty at trial.

The death sentence has been carried out via lethal injection since 2001 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Before then, the state prison system utilized electrocution, according to records from the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Tamang and Reed responded to a fraud call around 7:30 a.m. at the East Park Place Boulevard hotel in Stone Mountain.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation previously said this was after a South Carolina resident reported to police that their credit card was fraudulently used at the hotel.

A front desk manager told the officers that Andrews rented the room; and while the officers were speaking to Andrews about the card, the GBI said they determined a warrant for failure to appear out of DeKalb County was active against Andrews.

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When they attempted to arrest him, the GBI said Andrews pulled out a handgun and shot at the officers, hitting both of them. The officers then shot back, injuring the man, police said.

Tamang died of his injuries at the hospital while Reed suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the shooting, authorities previously said.

“Officer Pradeep’s death is a tragic loss to Gwinnett County,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a news release. “Gang activity is a dangerous scourge to our community, and when that unlawful activity ends in death or injury, we do everything we can to hold accountable the responsible party.”