White County Coroner Ricky Barrett has released the name of the 44-year-old Mountain State Bank robbery suspect who was shot and killed during a stand off with authorities on Friday...
HELEN – White County Coroner Ricky Barrett has released the name of the 44-year-old Mountain State Bank robbery suspect who was shot and killed during a stand off with authorities on Friday.
Barrett said that Danny Ray Queen, of Helen was the man killed during an altercation with a Lumpkin County sheriff’s deputy and a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“He died of a single gunshot wound,” Barrett said.
Queen, who GBI spokesman John Bankhead said was the man responsible for Thursday’s robbery of Mountain State Bank in downtown Dahlonega, ran from authorities as they closed in on his location in Helen on Friday.
Hunter Funeral Home in Clayton has charge of Queen’s funeral arrangements, Barrett said.
Bankhead said authorities quickly determined that Queen was the man they sought related to the Mountain State Bank robbery. Queen walked into the bank on Thursday and committed the robbery at approximately 4:35 p.m., making off with an undisclosed amount of money, Bankhead said.
Authorities received numerous tips from residents and law enforcement related to the suspect’s identity. Those tips all pointed at the same individual, Danny Ray Queen, Bankhead said.
“We IDed the suspect as a man living in the Helen area,” Bankhead said. “We did a photo lineup with the bank tellers at Mountain State Bank. Each teller identified him as the man involved in the robbery.”
After positively identifying Queen as the armed robbery suspect, state authorities asked the White County Sheriff’s Office to stake out a residence near Cox Drive in Helen, Bankhead said.
The series of events that led to the fatal shooting incident began around 1 p.m., Bankhead said.
As a White County sheriff’s deputy kept Queen under surveillance, deputies and investigators with White and Lumpkin counties, as well as special agents with the GBI were meeting at another location securing warrants for Queen’s arrest, Bankhead said.
“We got a call from the White County deputy that the suspect was on the move,” Bankhead said. “Deputies from White and Lumpkin counties and GBI special agents pursued the suspect. He crossed the Chattahoochee and when he was cornered by officers, he pulled a weapon and pointed it at the officers.
“The officers shouted at him repeatedly to put the gun down,” Bankhead said. “The man didn’t comply with those repeated requests. Two officers, a Lumpkin County sheriff’s deputy and a GBI special agent both fired at the suspect. The suspect was hit. He was still alive when Emergency Medical Technicians arrived at the scene. He died before they were able to transport him to a medical facility.
“We’re not exactly sure which shot was the fatal shot at this time,” Bankhead said.
Queen was pronounced dead at the scene. Special agents with the GBI’s Athens headquarters are conducting the shooting investigation, Bankhead said.
Athens GBI investigators later determined that the weapon Queen wielded during the foot chase was in fact a replica gun, Bankhead said.
“It looks real,” Bankhead said.
Authorities now believe the gun Queen used during the Mountain State Bank heist was the same replica handgun, Bankhead said.
“That’s still to be determined,” he said. “From looking at the bank surveillance photos and the weapon we recovered, they do look similar.”
Queen’s body was transported to the GBI Crime Laboratory for autopsy, Bankhead said.
An autopsy was performed on Saturday, Bankhead said.
Queen had a Cleveland address but had been staying at his mother’s home in Helen. That’s where the incident with law enforcement began to unfold on Friday, Bankhead said.
“I believe there were family members in the home at the time the man fled on foot,” Bankhead said. “I’m just not sure about that right now.”
The shooting remains under investigation. The officers involved will be offered counseling, Bankhead said.
“We don’t put them on administrative leave during the investigation,” Bankhead said. “That is left up to the officers.”