EAST COBB, Ga. — It’s been one week since a handful of people in East Cobb were shot by someone with a pellet gun, but police are still searching for the person responsible.
“It appears there were multiple suspects in the vehicle” Sgt. Wayne Delk said. “They actually fired from a vehicle in several neighborhoods in East Cobb. Indian Hills subdivision was the main one where we got most reports.”
The shootings were also reported along sections of Little Willeo Road and Timber Ridge Road. Delk says some of the victims posted about the incident on social media before reporting it to police.
“One of the things we want people to realize is this is a crime,” Delk said. “If something like this happens, we would rather you call us first, and then you can make your social media post, but it helps us to get the call early so we can get out there and get officers dispatched. Had we received more calls earlier on, we might have been able to get there and possibly find the suspects. We're still looking for the suspects right now.”
Little information is known about the suspects, other than the vehicle where the shots were fired from.
“We believe it's a red four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Altima, but we haven't confirmed that for sure,” Delk said. “There were multiple suspects. We don't know exactly how many there were, but obviously, one person was driving and at least one other person was shooting with the pellet gun. There may be even more suspects.”
Delk says this is not considered a drive-by shooting, because no actual firearms were involved – only a pellet gun that uses a CO2 cartridge to shoot the pellet. However, he says, there is a criminal element in this case, because someone was injured.
“The action itself can be considered a battery because there were visible marks on an individual, and it actually did some bruising,” Delk said. “If you're actually in a vehicle and you throw or launch a projectile from the vehicle and it strikes someone, or even if it's just in that person's general direction, it could be considered a terroristic act under state law. So this is a criminal act and it's being investigated criminally.”
Delk also says the shooter put themselves in a dangerous situation, just by aiming a weapon at people on the street.
“A person who's being shot at with one of these may think they're being shot at with an actual handgun,” he said. “What if that person is armed and chooses to defend themselves, thinking they’re in a deadly force situation? That's a scary situation to think about.”
If you have any information on the pellet gun incident, contact Cobb County police.
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