A man is in custody following multiple stabbings that occurred just before 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31, on Canterberry Trail near Clarkesville.
Habersham County 911 dispatchers first received a call about a fight outside the residence. As deputies were being notified, dispatchers learned several people had been stabbed and that the suspect — identified by family members as Ethan Brooks — had barricaded himself inside a camper on the property.
A Habersham County Sheriff’s deputy arrived to find three victims with stab wounds, officials said. The deputy provided cover so Clarkesville police and other first responders could reach the injured, render aid, and evacuate them to waiting ambulances. One victim was critically injured, while two others also suffered stab wounds. All were transported by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Family members tried to intervene
Family members identified the victims as Ricky and Diana Smith and Ashley Chaffin.
Kassandra Watson, the fiancée of one of the Smiths’ nephews, spoke with Now Habersham on behalf of the family. She said Chaffin alerted the Smiths to an alleged domestic incident involving Brooks and another family member.
“Ricky and Diana went to try to find out exactly what was going on,” Watson said. “As soon as they opened the door, Ethan Brooks had a knife of some sort and stabbed Ricky three times in the gut and then also stabbed Diana and Ashley.”
Watson said Ricky Smith was the most seriously injured.
Suspect barricaded inside camper
Habersham County Sheriff’s Investigator George Cason told Now Habersham that, after the attack, Brooks barricaded himself inside a camper on property adjacent to the Smiths. Officers used less-lethal pepperball launchers to subdue him.
“We were able to extricate him from the camper without incident,” Cason said.
Deputies arrested Brooks at the scene and booked him into the Habersham County Detention Center. The case remains under investigation.
The sheriff’s office expressed appreciation to the agencies that assisted, including Baldwin Police, Clarkesville Police, Cornelia Police, Demorest Police, Tallulah Falls Police, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Public Safety Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Habersham County Emergency Services, and Clarkesville Fire Department.
