Edwards: Saturday Albany homicide a possible hate crime

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Prosecutors are looking to possibly charge a person with a hate crime after the Albany Police Department (APD) said the person shot a man in the back, killing him.

It happened early Saturday morning in the 700 block of West Highland Avenue in Albany.

Police are still looking for whoever’s responsible. Investigators are collecting evidence and video to try to figure out who the shooter is.

Video from the scene shows the moment police said the suspect ran away after killing Joshua Hollis, 24.

Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards said the notion that this crime was a hate crime is because of general circumstances.

Edwards said many indicators are there.

“I cannot go into the specifics of everything about what happened, but it was pretty apparent that was probably a motivation for the death of Mr. Hollis,” said Edwards.

Edwards said they’re going through video evidence from surrounding areas. He believes additional surveillance could reveal the suspect.

APD Chief Michael Persley said the department is working on adding more patrols in the area after the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimes Stoppers (229) 436-TIPS.

Copyright 2021 WALB. All rights reserved.