A man who allegedly brandished a pistol and fired shots at Georgia Tech following a disagreement with a coworker is in police custody as of October 2025.
According to a statement from the school, the shots heard were the result of an altercation between two individuals employed by a third-party staffing agency. “The situation was swiftly addressed by the Georgia Tech Police Department,” a Georgia Tech spokesperson wrote. “We are currently reviewing the incident and carefully evaluating our relationship with the staffing agency involved.”
The altercation took place at the West Village Dining Hall reportedly in an area only accessible to staff. The dining hall is off 8th Street Northwest and McMillan Street North. The campus is in northwest Atlanta. Georgia Tech said no students or dining hall employees were injured.
After a brief investigation, Georgia Tech Police took a 28-year-old man into custody and held him on charges of possession of firearm by a convicted felon and during the commission of a crime, disorderly and reckless conduct.
Understanding Jail Release and Bail Hearings in Georgia
Typically, the sheriff sets bond shortly after defendants are booked into jail. The amount is based solely on the severity of the offense and the defendant’s criminal record. Generally, bond in a misdemeanor is about $750 and about $2,000 in a low-grade felony.
The sheriff usually doesn’t set bond in complex or serious felony cases, as is the case in the above story. Nevertheless, this defendant, and all other defendants, are entitled to reasonable bail under the Eighth Amendment.
To obtain this reasonable bail, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer sets a bond hearing. This hearing can take place at any time after arrest, but no sooner than the arraignment, which usually happens about seventy-two hours following arrest. At this hearing, the judge sets bail based on a wide range of factors. More importantly, the judge hears both sides of the story at this hearing. Bail factors include:
- Prior Criminal Record: We mentioned this factor above. Law enforcement officers believe that a criminal record makes a defendant a flight risk. But the opposite may be true. The shock and awe factor is absent if the defendant has been through the system before, reducing the likelihood of panic.
- Ties to the Community: Defendants with jobs, families, and other ties to the community are less likely to jump bail. The opposite is also true. Defendants who were just passing through at the time of arrest will almost certainly keep moving after release.
- Amount Defendant Can Pay: Judges must consider the amount of money the defendant can pay during bail hearings. Bail amounts must guarantee the defendant’s appearance at trial, not punish defendant who, at this point, have been convicted of nothing.
- Threat to the Community: This factor could refer to the community at large. Drunk drivers are threats to the community. Usually, however, this factor refers to threats against specific individuals, such as crime witnesses or victims.
Subsequent bail modifications could ease or tighten the conditions of bail. In addition to appearing at all required hearings, bail conditions usually include remaining in the county, reporting to a supervision officer, and offense-specific conditions, such as a keep-away order in an assault case.
Police Investigations and Lineup Reliability in Georgia
Police investigators are under extraordinary pressure to solve violent crimes in the first forty-eight hours. After that, the suspect usually flees the jurisdiction, or the trail otherwise goes cold. Quick investigations usually mean police shortcuts, typically illegal interrogations, over-reliance on paid informers, and unreliable lineups.
The Fifth Amendment’s right to remain silent begins when custodial interrogation begins. People are in custody when they don’t reasonably feel free to leave. Individuals who voluntarily speak with investigators usually don’t feel free to get up and leave.
Therefore, unless officers read the Miranda rights, the interrogation is illegal, and any evidence police obtain, such as a gun used in commission of a crime, is fruit from a poisonous tree.
During quick investigations, officers often approach probationers, assuming that they know something about the crime. Typically, officers offer these people leniency, such as less restrictive probation conditions, in exchange for testimony. Most people will say nearly anything for love or money. Therefore, informant testimony is often legally unreliable.
On an important side note, police don’t have the power to offer leniency in criminal matters. Prosecutors don’t have that power either. Only a judge can pass or modify a sentence.
Most lineups are single-blind lineups. Administering officers, who know who the suspect is, typically give witnesses subtle or not-so-subtle clues as to who to pick. Double-blind lineups (neither the officer nor the witness knows the suspect’s identity) are much more reliable.
Lineup instructions also increase or decrease liability. Most witnesses feel compelled to pick someone. A simple instruction, like “the suspect may or may not be in this lineup,” significantly increases reliability.
Collateral Consequences for College Students
Crime on college campuses raises the question of collateral consequences for students. These consequences include campus discipline and, for foreign students, immigration issues.
Colleges, universities, and related organizations, like fraternities and sororities, often take disciplinary action against students convicted of, or even arrested for, criminal acts on campus.
The Fourteenth Amendment usually applies to public institutions. Requirements include notice and an opportunity to be heard. Therefore, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer has a chance to offer mitigating circumstances into evidence.
Disciplinary procedures at private organizations are less well established. Since the Fourteenth Amendment’s requirements do not apply, the organization could unilaterally discipline a student. If the student has a Marietta criminal defense lawyer, organizations usually think twice about taking such unilateral action.
A conviction for an aggravated felony or a CIMT (crime involving moral turpitude) could lead to immediate deportation proceedings, even if the defendant has a valid visa. Almost all crimes are either aggravated felonies or CIMTs. Additionally, to the State Department, deferred disposition probation counts as a conviction, even though the defendant wasn’t technically convicted.
Some loopholes and exclusions apply to immediate deportation proceedings. However, these loopholes and exclusions usually don’t apply to subsequent status adjustment matters. It’s very common for a criminal record to torpedo an application for a green card or citizenship.
Quick investigations and quick arrests often don’t hold up in court. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense attorney, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. Convenient payment plans are available.
