NEWNAN, Ga. — On Thursday there will be one funeral for all three family members who were shot and killed last Friday in Coweta County.
And it is expected to draw hundreds of mourners from across metro Atlanta.
Tommy and Evelyn Hawk, and their teenaged grandson, Luke Hawk, were killed during an apparent robbery at the Hawks’ business, a gun shop and shooting range in Grantville.
Local, state and federal investigators are working to solve the case.
Wednesday evening, family members talked with 11Alive as they began receiving visitors at a Newnan church, and they urged tipsters to come forward, to help police figure out who killed their loved ones.
“It is so meaningful that so many in our community cherished them as we did and want to help shed a light in this darkness,” said Shelby Wright, Luke’s aunt.
“Tommy and Evelyn and Luke were just Christian, hard-working, wonderful people,” she said. “And we are just so grateful for the outpouring of support and all the prayers, and we just feel lifted up and loved, right now.”
Shelby Wright and Luke Hawk’s uncle, Ron Whitlock, spoke outside the church to let everyone know the whole family is praying that tipsters will come forward to help investigators figure out who killed the Hawks on Friday at the Hawks’ business, Lock Stock and Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville.
The apparent motive, police have said, was robbery. Some 40 guns were stolen from inside the shop.
And the person or persons who killed Tommy, Evelyn and Luke also stole the business’s security camera recorders.
The family said they’re praying not just for police and investigators, but also, “We’re praying for the redemption of the perpetrators who did this horrible thing, and our prayers are with them, that they may find forgiveness, as well,” Whitlock said. “That was the kind of people they (Tommy, Evelyn and Luke) are.”
Whitlock and Wright spoke of Luke, who was 18, and who was helping his grandparents in their business that day while he was on spring break, about to graduate from high school.
“Oh he was sunshine,” Wright said. “He was just sunshine. Sweet, thoughtful, sensitive, just coming into his own, he was so excited to graduate in a month, he was so excited to go to Abraham Baldwin (Agricultural College), he was just ready to take that next step. And he loved his family. He loved his family.... They were just servants of the Lord... the kindest people you would ever meet.”
Anyone with information to help police, and to qualify for a reward, can call the tip line at 1-888-ATF-TIPS.
The funeral service for Tommy, Evelyn and Luke Hawk will be at 2:00 p.m. Thursday at Unity Baptist Church, 311 Smokey Road, in Newnan.
The family is asking that, instead of flowers, people would contribute to charities important to Tommy and Evelyn and Luke, as well as to the Coweta County Sheriff’s Reward Fund.
Donations to the Coweta Community Foundation will assist in tornado recovery efforts concerning the storm that damaged the county last year. The Hawk family is also asking for people to assist the community by gifting funds to the Ronald McDonald House.
People can also help add to the reward currently being offered in the case by donating to the Coweta County Sheriff's Reward Fund. Interested donors can mail a check to the sheriff's office at 560 Greison Trail, Newnan, GA 30263.
Donors should note the check with "Hawk Family Reward," according to the family.