Authorities said a suspected gunman was killed by police and a clinic employee was airlifted after violence broke out at the veterans facility Tuesday afternoon.
JASPER, Ga. — Investigators worked late Tuesday to piece together a shooting at the Pickens County VA Clinic that sent one employee to a hospital by helicopter and ended with Jasper police fatally shooting the suspected gunman outside the building.
The episode instantly became more than a local emergency. It disrupted care at a clinic used by veterans across the area, drew in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the VA’s Office of Inspector General, and left unsettled the core questions any community asks after sudden violence: who was hurt, why it happened and whether warning signs were missed. By Tuesday night, officials had confirmed the broad outline of the event but had released few personal details about either the wounded employee or the man police killed.
The first public timeline came from Jasper Police Chief Matt Dawkins, who said officers responded at about 1:30 p.m. to reports of shots fired at the clinic on East Church Street. The building is in a shopping center, which meant the emergency response spread almost immediately beyond the clinic’s walls and into neighboring businesses and parking areas. Officers confronted the suspected gunman outside, Dawkins said, and shot him there. He died at the scene. Police said the man was from the Jasper area, but they did not name him Tuesday. Officials also did not say whether he was armed when officers confronted him outside, how many shots were fired during the encounter or whether any attempt at communication happened before police opened fire. Those gaps matter because the case now rests on two closely tied narratives: what happened to the clinic employee inside or near the building, and what happened in the final seconds before officers killed the suspect outside.
The wounded person was described only as a VA employee. Peter Kasperowicz, a VA spokesman, said the employee was taken by helicopter to a hospital after the shooting. By late Tuesday, authorities still had not released the employee’s name, age, job role or medical condition. Jasper police likewise had not explained whether the employee was targeted, struck accidentally or caught in a broader confrontation. Investigators had not publicly said whether the suspect came to the clinic for medical care, had a prior dispute there or had any known connection to the facility at all. Dawkins said police did not yet know what led up to the violence. That uncertainty extended to the suspect’s background. A sheriff’s spokesman cited in broader coverage said he did not know whether the man had any military history, an obvious question in a case centered on a veterans clinic. Until those details are established, investigators are left with witness accounts, surveillance footage, physical evidence and interviews with employees and patients who may have seen parts of the encounter.
The clinic itself is not a large urban medical center but an outpatient site that plays an outsized role for local veterans. Federal information says it offers primary care and specialty services that include lab work, telehealth and mental health care. The facility opened in 2020, part of a VA effort to improve access for veterans in north Georgia who might otherwise face longer drives for basic services. Jasper, a mountain town of about 5,000 residents roughly 60 miles north of Atlanta, is small enough that a violent scene at a shopping center can quickly feel personal even to people who were not there. Veterans who count on the clinic for recurring appointments now face delays or schedule changes after the VA announced it would keep the site closed for the rest of the week. Kasperowicz said appointments would be rescheduled as necessary and that counseling and chaplain services were being made available to veterans and staff. That practical response pointed to a larger truth about the shooting: even before the motive is known, the effects are already visible in disrupted care, shaken workers and anxiety among nearby residents.
The investigation widened through the afternoon. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to assist, and Dawkins said the FBI would also be involved. The VA added that its Office of Inspector General would help local authorities. Such a lineup reflects the mixed nature of the case. It happened at a federal health site, involved a local police shooting and left at least one civilian wounded. Local television also reported that the landlord of the shopping complex said exterior cameras covered the property and that he was prepared to provide footage to investigators. He said the video he viewed appeared to show the suspect enter the clinic and run out afterward, though authorities had not publicly laid out that sequence in their own terms Tuesday night. If investigators confirm that path, video may help establish whether the gunman fired inside, how quickly the event unfolded and where the encounter with officers began. None of the agencies involved said Tuesday when they might release body camera video, surveillance clips, autopsy findings or ballistic results.
The human reaction around the scene offered the clearest picture of the fear that spread through the shopping center. Jimmy Mooney, who was inside a nearby Goodwill, said shoppers heard gunfire and were rushed into the back of the store while officers moved outside. He described people shaking, using their phones and trying to reach loved ones as they waited for word that the danger had passed. Another local television report said a bullet went through the wall of the Goodwill, narrowly missing Mooney. Authorities had not publicly confirmed that detail by Tuesday night, but the account added to the sense that the violence may have reached beyond a single doorway or office. Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statement saying he was monitoring the incident and asking Georgians to pray for those impacted and for first responders. In a town where the clinic serves familiar faces and nearby stores draw local shoppers, the day’s events left a visible mark long after the sirens eased.
As of Tuesday night, the suspect and wounded employee had not been publicly identified, no motive had been announced and the clinic remained closed through the week. The next turning points are likely to come when investigators release names, clarify the employee’s condition and explain what evidence from witness interviews, cameras and forensic review shows about how the shooting began.
Author note: Last updated March 18, 2026.