Valdosta police officers arrested a 20-year-old man Thursday following a car chase during which he allegedly fired a gun at another vehicle. Jabari Jackson, 20, was taken into custody after an investigation that utilized Valdosta Police Department (VPD) traffic cameras and local store surveillance footage to identify his vehicle and actions. The incident, which began with reports of gunshots on East Park Avenue at midnight, led to multiple felony charges against Jackson.
VPD officers initially responded to East Park Avenue after receiving several 911 calls reporting gunshots in the area. Upon arrival, officers located spent shell casings, but found no individuals injured nor any property damaged at the scene. An immediate investigation was launched by the department.
During their inquiry, officers reviewed local traffic camera footage. The cameras captured two vehicles driving “quickly and recklessly” in the area, with one car appearing to pursue the other. Crucially, a camera recorded the driver of the pursuing vehicle discharging a firearm towards the fleeing car. This pivotal visual evidence allowed investigators to piece together the sequence of events.
Concurrently, another VPD officer broadened the investigation by checking nearby businesses. Store surveillance footage revealed that occupants of both vehicles had been inside a convenience store prior to the chase. This footage enabled officers to identify a black GMC Terrain and confirmed 20-year-old Jabari Jackson as its driver. This information, including a partial license plate, was promptly shared with other officers involved in the pursuit of the suspect.
Shortly thereafter, a separate VPD officer spotted the black GMC Terrain on West Hill Avenue. Additional officers were dispatched to the location, and the vehicle was successfully stopped. Jabari Jackson was confirmed to be an occupant of the vehicle and was subsequently arrested by officers. During the arrest, a gun was discovered and seized from the car. The vehicle that Jackson was reportedly chasing has not been located by authorities at the time of writing.
Jackson was transported to the Lowndes County Jail following his arrest. He faces several charges, including felony terroristic threats and acts, reckless conduct, discharge of a firearm on or near a public highway, reckless driving, and failure to obey a traffic signal.
Valdosta Police Chief Leslie Manahan commended the department's efforts, stating that officers "did an outstanding job with this investigation." Chief Manahan highlighted the critical role of technology, noting that after finding evidence of a gun being shot, officers used traffic cameras to search for those involved, capturing the offender firing the gun on video. She emphasized that without these steps and the camera footage, accountability might not have been achieved, and an additional firearm would not have been removed from the streets.
