SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
The Butts County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation of a late Friday night drive-by shooting that took the life of a Griffin teenager and left three others wounded.
According to Maj. Darrell Powers, of the Butts County Sheriff’s Office and the lead investigator in the case, the incident occurred on at approximately 12:30 a.m. at a graduation party being held on Levi Barnes Road.
“This party was a party for a young lady that was graduating high school that had recently moved here from Griffin. So, the people that were originally at the party, I didn’t speak to anybody last night – and I was the first investigator on the scene – that was from Jackson,” Powers said. “All were from Griffin, and as best as we can tell, the other crowd that showed up – that did the drive-by – was from Griffin, as well.”
Powers said the crowd at the party was estimated at between 150 and 175, and that multiple others are believed to have been involved in the shooting.
“At this time, we think that there were multiple weapons and multiple gunmen,” he said.
Powers did confirm investigators believe some of those in attendance at the graduation party returned fire on the drive-by gunmen.
Due to the early status of the investigation, Powers is withholding specific information regarding the types of weapons used and the number of casings recovered at the scene.
Cederrius Hastings, the 16-year-old killed in the incident, sustained a single gunshot wound to the chest. Hastings was a Griffin High School student and a member of the football team.
The three surviving victims also sustained a single gunshot wound each.
“They were transported to Macon. They were transported by ambulance, by bus,” Powers said. “None of the others have life threatening injuries. However, two of them do have serious injuries. The fourth was treated and released.”
When asked if the investigation has indicated this fatal drive-by shooting was gang-related, Powers said, “At this point, we cannot confirm that.”
He later added, “As soon as we have it confirmed – if we do confirm that it involved gangs – we’re gonna go head strong into it. We’re not going to back down.”
Powers said no one has been taken into custody, but the investigation has revealed useful information.
“We do have some leads in it and we do have some people of interest,” he said.
