SWAT Team Storms Alabama Home of Auburn Shooting Suspect Desmonte Leonard … Jeremy Thomas & Gabriel Thomas Arrested on Hindering Prosecution

The manhunt continues for Auburn, AL murder suspect Desmonte Leonard …

SWAT teams searching murder suspect Desmonte Leonard, the man charged with fatally shooting three people near Auburn University, stormed an Alabama house Monday where they believe Leonard was hiding. Police left the scene without arrests. Desmonte Leonard is wanted on three capital murder attest warrants.

Murder Suspect: Desmonte Leonard

Authorities searching for a man charged with fatally shooting three people near Auburn University swarmed a house Monday where they believe he’s hiding, firing tear gas and sending a tactical team on cautious forays inside.

The tactical team had searched the lower portions of the house and was making deliberate moves into the attic where suspect Desmonte Leonard was believed to be hiding, said Montgomery Public Safety Director Chris Murphy. He declined to give a timetable for them to bring someone out.

“We are having to slowly put our people up there and do an inch-by-inch search,” he said during a briefing several hours after police surrounded the house.

Police had hoped to flush out the person with tear gas and verbal commands, but sent in the tactical team after getting no response. They’ve used thermal imaging and other technology to narrow down what part of the attic he’s in. The attic is cramped, complicating investigators’ efforts.

Previously, Auburn police said 18 year old Jeremy S. Thomas of Montgomery, AL was charged with hindering prosecution after he fled the scene of the shooting with Desmonte Leonard. Yet another shock, this thug has a record too. Montgomery police also stated that 41 year old Gabriel Thomas was charged with hindering prosecution after having contact with Leonard after the shooting and providing false information to officers.

Jeremy Thomas, 18, of Montgomery has been charged with hindering prosecution and allegedly fled with 22-year-old Desmonte Leonard, the man police suspect in the shooting, from University Heights apartments Saturday, Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said.

Dawson said Thomas is now being questioned by Auburn police officers. He said approximately 35 officers are actively working with Montgomery police and other law enforcement agencies in the search for Leonard.

The charge against Thomas comes a little less than a year after he was arrested on murder charges for the June 16, 2011, shooting death of a teen in Montgomery, according to court records. Although he was originally charged with murder, he was out on bond and is scheduled to go to trial for manslaughter next week.