ALAMO, GEORGIA – A convicted felon with a history of assaulting peace officers has been charged with the ambush-style murder of Alamo Police Department Officer Dylan Harrison. The incident occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday outside of the department.
Officer Harrison, 26, of Dudley, Georgia, was working his first shift as a part-time officer with the Alamo Police Department. Investigators believe that his murder was in retaliation for an encounter that he had near the police station during his shift earlier in the evening.
Following the shooting, a “blue alert” was issued by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a notification which indicates the search for a suspect who’s allegedly killed or injured an officer and hasn’t been apprehended. 43-year-old Damien Anthony Ferguson, of Alamo, was named as the suspect and an $18,500 reward was offered for information related to his arrest.
A 38-hour manhunt ended when Ferguson was taken into custody Sunday without incident while officers executed a search warrant of his residence.
According to Lindsay Wilkes, GBI Special Agent in Charge, Officer Harrison observed a man committing a traffic violation at a Circle K convenience store across the street from the police station on Friday evening. When he contacted the subject, he was met with non-compliance and deployed his Taser to gain compliance. The subject was apparently an associate of Ferguson.
“It is believed that the ambush-style attack on Officer Harrison was retaliation for the incident and the arrest of the man Friday night,” Wilkes said. Ferguson was charged with murder and with aggravated stalking related to a previous domestic incident, according to the GBI.
Ferguson served eight years in prison beginning in 1998 on a Wheeler County conviction including aggravated assault of a peace officer, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.
Officer Harrison, who was also a full-time agent with the Oconee Drug Task Force in Eastman, Georgia, has been in law enforcement since 2018. It is believed that he is the fifth Georgia law enforcement line of duty death this year. He leaves behind his wife and 6-month-old baby.
