Key points:
• Sandy Springs resident Justin Tucker, 29, was fatally shot on April 14 at 550 Northridge Parkway after a dispute.
• As of April 16, the police department has arrested both brothers and confiscated three firearms from their apartment.
• A criminal warrant signed by a Fulton County judge includes witness testimony, detailing the fatal shooting.
The Sandy Springs Police Department has arrested two brothers suspected of murdering Justin Tucker, a 29-year-old resident of 550 Northridge Parkway, around 8:20 p.m. on April 14.
Sandy Springs officers said they arrested 26-year-old Sandy Springs resident Derrick Washington after the fatal shooting at the apartment complex on Tuesday night. Early in the morning on Thursday, April 16, the department announced it had arrested 20-year-old Mason Washington.
Sandy Springs Police Sgt. Giovanni Gomez, the department’s public information officer, held a press conference outside of SSPD Headquarters at 1 p.m. on April 15, before the arrest of the second brother.
Giovanni said when officers first arrived, they found the male victim with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of an apartment complex between Roswell Road and State Route 400.
“Sadly, he was pronounced deceased at the scene,” Giovanni said. “At this point in the investigation, we believe it was a confrontation between two suspects and the victim, which led to the shooting.”
Investigation yields arrests
Sandy Springs detectives had identified the suspects, who live together at 550 Northridge Parkway.
The brothers face the same charges: felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Derrick was booked at the Fulton County Jail on April 15, according to public records.
After Giovanni’s homicide investigation update, he took questions from local media surrounding the suspects’ motives, witnesses at the apartment complex, and the location of the missing Washington brother.
Giovanni said he could only confirm personnel from the Sandy Springs Police Department and Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office were present at the scene on April 14.
While Gomez could not answer specific questions during the ongoing investigation, a criminal warrant detailing a Sandy Springs officer’s account of the crime scene sheds some light on the sequence of events.
Warrant details witness testimony
An officer who responded to the scene said he found the victim deceased lying next to spent pistol shell casings and a large amount of U.S. currency. Initially, he was told an Alfa Romeo Giulia in the parking lot was involved in the incident.
Shortly after, a 26-year-old witness told him that he saw the victim and an armed man arguing in the parking lot. The witness said he heard the driver accuse the victim of stealing from him, which the man denied.
After the two moved to the breezeway of the apartment complex, the witness said another man emerged from an apartment with a rifle.
“The man with the long gun pointed it at the victim and then struck him with it,” the officer wrote in the arrest warrant. “The driver of the Alfa Romeo pointed a pistol at the victim, at which [the witness] briefly turned around to get his girlfriend to safety. A few seconds later, [he] heard gunshots.”
The officer said a database check confirmed the Alfa Romeo belonged to the older Washington brother.
Detectives track brothers
The arrest warrant details a Sandy Springs police detective’s interview with an Uber driver, whom the victim called to the apartment complex.
The man told officers the victim begged for his life before both men fired their weapons. The Uber driver said the man with the long gun went back into the building, and the one carrying a pistol hopped into a BMW sedan.
The criminal warrant for Derrick Washington’s arrest says detectives used license plate readers to track a getaway vehicle belonging to a 22-year-old friend of Mason Washington. The officer said the friend was brought into headquarters for questioning later that night.
The friend said he was at the brothers’ apartment when he heard the gunshots. After getting in his car to leave, the driver said he found Mason Washington in his back seat and made him get out in the parking lot.
The officer said detectives then executed a search warrant at the brothers’ apartment, taking Derrick into custody and confiscating three firearms, a FN 909 pistol, a Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifle, and “an AR-15 pattern pistol.” Mason was not found at the apartment.
During an interview, Derrick Washington said he acted in lawful self-defense under threat from the victim and denied all wrongdoing.
The officer said he confronted Washington with witness testimony and physical evidence that the victim was not armed when he was found deceased.
Rough Draft Atlanta has reached out to the Sandy Springs Police Department for information about Mason Washington’s arrest on April 16.
