A Georgia district coroner discovered the bodies of his own parents and teenage son after they were shot at a shooting range The police announced on Friday. The three family members were killed in a robbery at the Lock Stock & Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville, about 50 miles outside of Atlanta, authorities said.
Grantville Police Chief Steve Whitlock said Richard Hawk, the Cowetta County coroner, got into the deal and found the victims. They were identified as Thomas Hawk, 75; his wife Evelyn, 75; and her grandson Luke, 17.
Richard Hawk told the Guardian on Sunday that police are still looking for suspects in connection with the killings.
“Tommy, Evelyn, and Luke knew the Lord as their personal Savior,” he told the outlet. “They died knowing the Lord and are in heaven.”
Clay Neely/The Newnan Times-Herald via AP
Whitlock said the Hawk family is known and respected in their small, close-knit community. The Hawks had operated Lock Stock & Barrel for nearly 30 years. Her grandson was on spring break helping his grandparents in the shop.
“This is just a shock to everyone in the community,” Whitlock told The Associated Press. “We’re trying our best to find out.”
Whitlock said investigators believe the robbery and shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. Friday, when the shooting range normally closes.
As of early Saturday, there were no suspects and no arrests had been made, he said. Investigators said up to 40 guns and the shooting range surveillance camera were also stolen.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating, but when contacted Saturday it referred all inquiries to Grantville Police. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also called in about the volume of guns seized. Whitlock said he was grateful for the help of other law enforcement agencies in the investigation.
“We’re just a small town, 12 officers. I’ve been here for eight years and I’ve never had to examine anything like this. It was pretty tough for us. The crime rate is really very low,” he said.
According to the ATF’s Atlanta office Twitter feed, a $15,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers in the case.
“ATF and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to bring the killer(s) to justice,” Atlanta Field Division Special Agent Benjamin P. Gibbons said in a statement. “The brutality of these senseless murders combined with the fact that these killers acquired additional firearms makes solving this case our top priority.”
A message left at the ATF Atlanta office was not immediately returned.
Police are asking any witnesses to come forward. Whitlock said they don’t currently have video evidence to work with.
“Anyone who drove past the shooting range between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and may have seen vehicles other than a white Ford Dual Truck and a black Ford Expedition is asked to contact the police department ‘ the Grantville Police Department said in their Facebook statement.
Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood said in a statement on Facebook that the entire community was forever broken by the “senseless and tragic” murders of members of the Hawk family.
“I also fervently pray that God will use our law enforcement community and the Coweta community,” he said, “to bring about justice quickly.”
