Veterans Affairs employee airlifted after being shot at Georgia VA clinic. The suspect is dead

A Veterans Affairs clinic employee was shot in Jasper, Georgia, on Tuesday, and the suspected shooter has been killed by law enforcement, a Veterans Affairs spokesperson said.

The shooting was reported at about 1 p.m. at the Pickens County VA Clinic, Jasper Police Chief Matt Dawkins said. Jasper is about 60 miles north of downtown Atlanta.

When officers arrived, they confronted the suspect outside the clinic and fatally shot them, Dawkins said.

The clinic employee who was shot was transported by helicopter to a hospital, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz told CNN. Their condition is unknown.

What led up to the shooting is still unclear, and authorities are determining what connection, if any, the suspect had to the clinic.

The suspect has not been publicly identified, but Dawkins said they are a local resident.

The clinic will remain closed for the rest of the week as an investigation is underway, Kasperowicz said.

“VA is rescheduling appointments as necessary and ensuring Veterans and staff have access to counseling and chaplain services in the wake of this tragic event,” Kasperowicz said.

The FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate the incident, Dawkins said. Both agencies were on the scene Tuesday, which had been cordoned off with yellow tape and walls of law enforcement vehicles. The VA’s Office of Inspector General will assist with the investigation.

Within minutes of the gunfire, dozens of local and state law enforcement vehicles swarmed the shopping center where the clinic is located, an employee of a nearby appliance repair store told CNN.

Sam Parker, the owner of North Georgia TV Repair, saw “cops coming in by the scores.”

“The place was swarming and they had tactical vests on, you know. They had their bulletproof vests, their guns drawn and everything,” Parker said.

The 69-year-old founded his shop in 2001 and said he has never seen anything like this incident happen in Jasper.

Law enforcement appeared to chase someone around the side of the neighboring Goodwill store, Parker said.

A customer inside the Goodwill, Jimmy Mooney, was shopping for something to cheer up his wife, who he said was sick at home. Mooney was browsing the electronics aisle when the chaos unfolded, he told CNN affiliate WXIA.

Someone shouted for everyone to run to the back of the Goodwill, and Mooney said he looked out the window and saw police running and firing at someone around the side of the store.

Later, he realized a bullet had pierced the store and struck the wall where he had been standing just moments before. It is not clear whether the shot was fired by the suspect or law enforcement.

Some people rushed to lock the front doors and hold the back doors closed, he said. Mooney huddled with other shoppers, including a mother and her two children, in a corner in the back of the store for what he said felt like an hour.

Finally, police told shoppers they were safe to leave. Mooney left the store, leaving behind two angel figurines he had found for his wife.

“Everybody’s real friendly out here. You wouldn’t think nothing like that would happen, but you never know,” Mooney told WXIA.

This story has been updated with additional information.