ATLANTA — Olaolukitan Adon Abel, a 26-year-old U.S. Navy veteran charged in a series of shootings near Atlanta that left three people dead, died in jail Tuesday night. Abel was found unresponsive in his cell, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said, and officials performed lifesaving measures before he was pronounced dead.

The official cause of death has not been determined, and officials do not suspect foul play, according to the sheriff's office. An internal review is being conducted.

Abel was charged in Georgia state court with two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and gun offenses. He was accused of killing Prianna Weathers, 31, and Lauren Bullis, a 40-year-old Department of Homeland Security auditor. Authorities were seeking an additional murder charge against him for the death of Tony Mathews, a 49-year-old homeless man who died Sunday from injuries after he was shot in the early morning hours of April 13 outside a grocery store in Brookhaven, police in Brookhaven said.

It was unclear if Abel knew any of the victims, and police believe at least one victim was targeted at random. According to roommates, Abel got into an argument over the air conditioning in his communal house and left shortly before the shootings.

After leaving the house, Abel traveled about 5 miles (8 km) and shot Weathers outside a Decatur fast food restaurant at 12:50 a.m. on April 13, investigators said. Around 2 a.m. on April 13, he shot Mathews outside a supermarket in Brookhaven, about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the first attack. Bullis was found around 7 a.m. with gunshot and stab wounds a few hundred feet from Abel's home while walking her dog.

Investigators found ammunition and shell casings inside Abel's vehicle matching those at the scene of Weathers' killing, and police found the gun and shell casings on the ground near where Bullis was found. Georgia State Patrol troopers stopped Abel's car around 11 a.m. Monday in Troup County, Georgia.

Abel was also facing a federal firearms charge, along with another man accused of buying the gun used in the shootings. He had previously been convicted of a felony and could not legally buy a gun. California court records show Abel pleaded guilty in October 2024 in San Diego County to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal vandalism over an attack on two police officers and another person. Online court records show someone with a similar name and the same birth date pleaded guilty in June in Chatham County, Georgia, to four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

Abel was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022 while serving in the Navy and stationed in the San Diego area. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin raised concern that Abel was granted citizenship when President Biden was in office. Mullin listed Abel's previous alleged crimes, but it is unclear whether any of them occurred before Abel became a citizen in 2022.