ATHENS, Ga., March 24 (UPI) -- Georgia police officers armed with stun grenades raided a house in Athens Thursday looking for a suspected cop killer but failed to find him.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the house was targeted because of a "credible tip" Jamie Hood was there, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The reward for information leading to the capture of Hood, 33, was increased to $50,000, the Athens Banner-Herald said. At a news conference Wednesday, GBI Director Vernon Keenan called Hood "a very, very dangerous individual who must be arrested and taken off the streets."
The victim, Elmer "Buddy" Christian, a senior police officer in Athens-Clarke, was shot Tuesday as he tried to assist another officer. Senior Police Officer Tony Howard was wounded.
Investigators say Hood and four other men threatened a victim to get him to give them money and imprisoned him in a car trunk. He managed to escape by popping the trunk open.
Howard was shot twice after he pulled over an SUV allegedly involved in the crime, and Christian was gunned down when he pulled up in a patrol car.
Christian, 34, is survived by his wife and two young children.
Athens-Clarke Police Chief Jack Lumpkin said Howard "woke up policing" when he regained consciousness Wednesday morning, asking if the suspected shooter had been caught.
