>> MILLEDGEVILLE POLICE
The weekend was heavy with panic after two reports of drive-by shootings.
On Sept. 30, a homeowner on North Clark Street located shell casings in their driveway with the suspicion that someone fired at her home. The owner reported that a neighbor informed them that the house had been shot at earlier in the day. The victim was asleep at the time of the incident but was awoken by their neighbor shortly after the shooting. Twelve bullet holes were noted on the east side of the residence and inside damage was noted in the dining room walls, kitchen ceiling, guest bathroom bathtub, toilet, and walls and spare bedroom walls. Several projectiles and bullet fragments were also found in the kitchen area and bathroom. Currently there are no identified suspects for this case.
Later in the weekend, on Oct. 1, the Milledgeville Police Department released a press release about a drive-by shooting that occurred near West Montgomery Street. Detective Nicholas Reonas observed the shooting and initiated a pursuit, along with other MPD officers, after the vehicle fled.
The high-speed pursuit would end once the vehicle wrecked on the grounds of Central City Park.
Four individuals exited the vehicle and attempted to flee. A brief foot pursuit with assistance from the Georgia Department of Corrections K-9 unit, Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department, Georgia College Public Safety and troopers with the Georgia Department of Public Safety led to the arrest of three of the four suspects.
Arrested were Keymon Lacarl Johnson, 18, Tyler Lemont Pounds, 17, and Travis Terrell Simmons, 22. Each individual was charged with nine counts of aggravated assault, four counts of third-degree child cruelty, as well as one count each of reckless conduct, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and unauthorized discharge of a firearm within 50 yards of a public highway. Simmons had an additional charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and a probation violation.
The MPD reassured citizens in their press release that they are actively working to prevent future crimes such as this one: “To our citizens, please rest assured that Chief Dray Swicord and the men and women of the Milledgeville Police Department are committed to proactive enforcement to bring these offenders who continue to commit these violent acts in our community to justice.”