Man arrested for triple slaying during Georgia gun range robbery

Lock Stock and Barrel gun range. Photo: Google Streets

April 16 (UPI) — A man has been arrested in Georgia a week after three members of a family that owned a gun range were killed during a robbery.

Jacob Christian Muse, 21, was arrested Friday and charged with three counts of malice murder in connection with the deaths of Tommy Richard Hawk Sr., his wife Evelyn Hawk and their 17-year-old grandson Alexander Luke Hawk at the Lock, Stock & Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville, Ga., on April 8.

His arrest was announced in a joint press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Grantville Police Department, along with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Muse has been booked into the Coweta County Jail where he is being held without bond. Further details about his arrest were not immediately known.

Officials said investigators had responded to a call at the gun range around 8:08 p.m. last Friday and found the Hawks shot dead inside the business. The assailant had looted the gun range of a cache of about 40 firearms and removed the digital video recorder for a surveillance camera.

“GBI crime scene specialists spent days documenting, collecting and preserving evidence,” investigators said. “They collected physical evidence from the scene and turned it over to the GBI and ATF crime labs for expedited analysis.”

The ATF had been called to assist because of “the amount of weapons taken,” the Grantville Police Department said in a separate statement.

The bodies of the victims were found by Richard Hawk, the Coweta County Coroner who co-owned the business with his parents, WXIA-TV reported.

Hawk said he found their bodies after the family members had failed to return home for dinner after work.

“We’re not guaranteed tomorrow,” he told the broadcaster. “They’re all three in heaven, and that’s what’s helping me through this — God’s promises.”

Members of the Hawk family raised law enforcement for arresting Muse in a statement to the Newman, Ga., Times Herald.

“We understand from Chief Steve Whitlock that the current development with the murder suspect in custody was certainly a team effort,” the family said. “We are continuing to pray for their teams during this stressful time, and we will continue to pray for the redemption of the perpetrator.”

Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood said that the community was “left with hurt, pain, and very little answers” after “the senseless and tragic event.”

“Richard has served faithfully for decades in our law enforcement community. He’s a committed public servant and moreover a personal friend of mine. I have and will continue to provide every resource available to speak justice for the Hawk family,” Wood said.

“Now is the time that our Coweta family needs to direct our thoughts and prayers to Richard and his family,” he added.

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