Manhunt going for a "armed and dangerous" suspect in the murder of a Georgia police officer

A manhunt was being held on Sunday for a suspect in the murder of a police officer near a school in suburban Atlanta after his partner and he had reacted to the discovery of a suspicious vehicle, authorities said.

Tafahree Maynard, 18, is considered "armed and dangerous" and would be the gunman who opened fire without warning Saturday afternoon on Antwan Toney, police officer of Gwinnett County and his partner, police said.

Maynard is suspected of assassination and serious assault after the death of Toney, who had just celebrated his 30th birthday with his colleagues in Las Vegas and had only six days to mark his third birthday as member of the department, announced officials.

WSB-TV

Toney and another officer approached a vehicle near Shiloh Middle School in Snellville around 2:30 pm on Saturday to check a report of people who smoke marijuana, according to Sgt. Jake Smith of the Gwinnett County Police Department.

"Before he could reach the vehicle, the gunshots rang out" from inside the car, Smith said, adding that such things did not happen "at 99.999%" of the time.

"It has been tragic," said Smith.

One of the bullets hit Toney, Smith said.

Gwinnett County Police

Toney's partner, who was not identified, was not injured and took the injured officer to death, to protect him, Smith said.

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The people who worked daily with Agent Toney remembered a very jovial person, devoted to his work and his community.

It was not clear right away where Toney had been hit. He was taken to the Gwinnett County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"What one chief wants to hear is that the officer is fine, and when I asked that question, it was not the answer I got. I have, "said Gwinnett County Police Chief Butch Ayers at a press conference last Saturday.

When Toney graduated from the Police Academy in 2015, it was Ayers who handed him his badge.

"People who worked daily with Agent Toney remembered a very jovial person, dedicated to his job and his community," Ayers said.

Initial reports indicated that the vehicle Toney and his partner had been called to investigate contained as many as four people.

After the shooting, the car took off and crashed within one kilometer of the shooting scene, Smith said. The police fired back, but it was unclear whether anyone in the car had been injured or if the car had just crashed while she was running away, Smith said.

The suspects fled on foot.

One of the suspects, Isaiah Pretlow, 19, was arrested shortly after firing and charged with aggravated assault, officials said. Pretlow was caught after allegedly firing on US marshals as they approached him, officials said.

The marshals were not injured during the arrest of Pretlow, officials said.

Ayers stated that the investigators were examining the images taken by the body, but he did not specify which camera he had referred to. Earlier, Smith had stated that most of the department's officers had a camera for the body, but not all.

Friends and community residents joined the officers who worked with Toney for a candlelight vigil Saturday night at the Gwinnett County Memorial in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

"He looked almost like a brother, he was at home all the time," said Reginald Pierre, a friend of Toney who attended the vigil at WSB-TV, the affiliate channel of ABC in Atlanta.

Alexandra Faul and Mark Osborne of ABC News contributed to this report.