51-year-old Floyd Palmer was arrested for the shooting that occurred yesterday at a World Changers Church International chapel, in College Park, Georgia.
Palmer is a former employee at the church, working in facilities maintenance. He had resigned 2 months ago for “personal reasons,” Fulton County Police Cpl. Kay Lester said. He was arrested while shopping at local Lennox Mall.
According to the
Baltimore Sun, court records revealed that a man with the same name has been charged with attempted murder in Baltimore, in 2001, after assaulting someone and threatening them with a handgun.
The man was committed to a mental institution, to avoid serving jail time, and was released the following year.
The prosecution asked for the man to be subjected to evaluations every year, for the next five years, to determine whether or not he was a danger to society, but the motion was withdrawn during the trial, as he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
The Fulton County Police described that the man opened fire in the chapel right before the 10 a.m. service. 39-year-old church volunteer Greg McDowell suffered fatal injuries, and was the only person wounded in the shooting.
20 to 25 parishioners were in church at the time of the event. Witnesses have described Palmer's state of mind as serene in the moment of the attack. After the shooting, he simply walked out and drove off in his Subaru station wagon, with tinted windows.
"He walked in calmly, opened fire, and left as calmly," Cpl. Kay Lester informed.
Investigators have yet to discover whether or not the shooter was targeting the volunteer, but there is a possibility that his intended target was reverend Creflo Dollar, the church's founder and leader.
"We do not know if the victim was targeted. [...] We are looking into that as he was the only person that was shot," the police say.
Fulton has been charged with homicide and possession of firearms, and is awaiting trial.
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