The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate an incident reported as a drive-by shooting outside Cornelia Wednesday afternoon.
Cornelia police initially responded to the call.
“We were dispatched because the call came in that a shooting occurred in the parking lot of our water treatment plant,” says Cornelia Police Chief Jonathan Roberts. “When they got there, it was discovered that it occurred in the roadway while passing by the water plant, so it was turned over to the sheriff’s office.”
Habersham County E-911 dispatched deputies to the area of Camp Creek Road and Wilson Road at 2:11 p.m. on August 2. Dispatchers advised deputies no one was injured in the victim’s vehicle, and the suspect vehicle had fled the scene.
The vehicle was described as a red Dodge pickup truck with several occupants. The victims told deputies the shooter possibly was a Hispanic male wearing a white T-shirt.
“Deputies arrived and located a red truck and identified the sole occupant and determined he was not involved,” says Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore.
It began with an argument in a parking lot
The victims, one of whom is eight months pregnant, said words were exchanged in the parking lot of a Cornelia apartment complex with several individuals in the suspect vehicle, including one who is known to the victims.
The male victim said the Hispanic male fired several shots at their vehicle before he pulled off the road and called 9-1-1. He said the suspect vehicle continued north on Camp Creek Road at a high rate of speed.
Through subsequent interviews at the apartment complex, the male person of interest in the assault was identified. Other male occupants remain unknown.
The victim’s vehicle sustained no damage.
The case was turned over to sheriff’s office investigators.
“Sheriff’s officials do not believe there was a danger to the public except during the brief time of the incident since it appears to be a dispute among familiar parties,” says Moore.
The sheriff’s office is not releasing any names at this point since the investigation remains ongoing.
