A VA employee was flown to a hospital as state, federal and VA investigators began reviewing the gunfire outside the north Georgia outpatient center.
JASPER, Ga. — A shooting at the Pickens County VA Clinic on Tuesday afternoon left a suspected gunman dead and a VA employee hospitalized after Jasper police responded to reports of shots fired at about 1:30 p.m. at the East Church Street facility.
The violence rattled a small north Georgia town and shut down a clinic that serves veterans in and around Pickens County. Investigators said officers confronted the gunman outside the building and shot him there, but authorities had not publicly explained what led to the attack by Tuesday night. The wounded clinic employee was flown from the scene, and officials said the case had drawn local, state, federal and internal VA investigators because it involved both a shooting at a government health site and the use of deadly force by police.
Jasper Police Chief Matt Dawkins said officers were sent to the clinic after a shots fired call came in at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The clinic sits in a shopping center on East Church Street, a commercial strip where nearby stores remained caught up in the response as patrol cars, ambulances and investigators flooded the area. Dawkins said officers encountered the suspected gunman outside the clinic and shot him. He died there. The chief told reporters that the man was from the Jasper area, but he did not release his name Tuesday and said investigators were still working through the facts. “We don’t know what led up to it,” Dawkins said at the scene, underscoring how much remained unsettled only hours after the gunfire. Authorities also did not say how many officers fired, what weapon the suspect used or whether any exchange began inside the building before moving outdoors.
The employee who was shot during the incident was taken by helicopter to a hospital, according to VA spokesman Peter Kasperowicz and local police. Officials did not publicly identify the employee, and Dawkins said he did not have an update Tuesday on the person’s condition. That left one of the central questions of the case unresolved by the end of the day: how badly the employee was hurt and whether others inside the clinic were in the line of fire. Investigators also had not said whether the suspect and the wounded worker knew each other or whether the suspect had any appointment or other reason to be at the clinic. Pickens County authorities said the shooting scene remained active for hours. At a nearby Goodwill store, witness Jimmy Mooney said shoppers were hurried into the back after gunfire erupted. He said people inside were frightened and trying to call family members as officers moved outside near the hill and parking lot.
The setting added to the shock. Jasper is a town of about 5,000 residents roughly 60 miles north of downtown Atlanta, at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the clinic is part of the local health network many area veterans rely on for routine care. According to the VA, the outpatient center offers primary care along with specialty services such as laboratory work, telehealth and mental health care. The clinic opened in the summer of 2020 as part of a push to bring care closer to veterans living in north Georgia. That mission put the facility at the center of daily life for former service members who might travel there for checkups, counseling, testing and follow-up visits rather than making longer drives into metro Atlanta. On Tuesday, instead of patients moving in and out for appointments, witnesses and news photos showed emergency vehicles, tactical gear and evidence work around the shopping center. The contrast helped explain why the incident drew immediate attention well beyond Pickens County.
By Tuesday evening, officials had outlined the agencies now involved but not the answers they expect to produce. Dawkins said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation would take part in the case, while the VA said its Office of Inspector General would assist local authorities. The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office was also involved on the ground. Because officers shot the suspect, the case is likely to unfold on two tracks: one focused on the initial attack at the clinic and another focused on the officers’ response outside the building. The VA said the clinic would remain closed for the rest of the week while appointments were rescheduled as needed. Kasperowicz said the department was also making counseling and chaplain services available to veterans and staff after what he called a tragic event. No charges were announced Tuesday because the suspected shooter died at the scene, and authorities did not say when the gunman’s identity, the employee’s condition or any surveillance video findings might be released.
For people nearby, the day narrowed quickly from ordinary errands to fear and confusion. Mooney said he had been shopping for his sick wife when the violence broke out next door. He told television reporters that a bullet went through the wall of the Goodwill, a detail that, if confirmed by investigators, would show how close the danger came to spreading beyond the clinic itself. The landlord of the shopping complex told local television that multiple exterior cameras covered the property and that he was prepared to turn video over to investigators. He said footage he reviewed appeared to show the suspect enter the clinic and then run out, though authorities had not independently detailed that sequence in public by Tuesday night. Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that he was monitoring the incident and asked Georgians to pray for those affected and for first responders. Even with those reactions, the loudest fact by day’s end was how much the community still did not know.
The case remained active Tuesday night, with the clinic closed through the week and investigators still working to identify the suspect, explain the motive and update the condition of the wounded employee. The next major milestone is expected to be a fuller briefing from law enforcement or state investigators once witness interviews, video review and scene processing move further along.
Author note: Last updated March 18, 2026.