REMERTON, Ga. (AP) — Two men are dead and an officer was wounded in a weekend shootout in Georgia’s Lowndes County.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that it is investigating the shooting in Remerton, a popular spot for Valdosta State University students to live.

Preliminary information indicates that the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, after two people got into an argument outside a bar. Four sheriff’s deputies were working off-duty outside various bars in the area when the shootings occurred.

Immediately after that incident, someone fired multiple shots, prompting two more deputies to respond, the GBI said. A deputy was shot in the second round of gunfire and taken to an area hospital. He was expected to survive, the GBI said. Two other men died in the shooting, the agency said.

Police recovered guns at both scenes, but it remains unclear how many shots were fired, who fired the fatal shots and whether there are any suspects.

Safety in the area has been a major concern for residents, with this being the second fatal shooting at the same location in a year. WALB-TV reported.

“I mean, I don’t even want to go to bars because I never know what’s going to happen,” one Remerton resident told the television station.

In 2023, Valdosta State University student Brianna Long, 21, was killed around Halloween by a stray bullet while cleaning a bar in the same area as the shooting officer involved. Since her death, the Remerton Police Department has added extra surveillance with cameras and officers.

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