TPD needs public’s help solving recent shooting

The Toccoa Police Department continues to ask the public for information regarding a recent shooting that occurred on Cumberlin Drive.

According to Toccoa Police Chief Jimmy Mize, on January 2, Toccoa Police Officers responded to 92 Cumberlin Drive in reference to shots fired.

A witness told officers she heard shots fired near her apartment.

One male subject was injured and driven to the hospital by his friend for treatment.

Another witness told officers she observed two black males walking down the hill towards the bottom of the apartment complex and when she went inside her apartment, she heard several shots fired.

Returning to her front door, she observed two black males running up the hill towards Mulkey Road.

The two men were described as one tall and slim with a blue or black hoodie; the other was described as short with a medium build, wearing a red hoodie.

Mize says a deputy from the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office arrived with a K-9.

He and an officer from the Toccoa Police Department followed a track down Cumberlin Drive, crossed Mulkey Road into the area surrounding property owned by True Vista.

From there, Mize says they tracked into the woods coming out at Prather Bridge Road where they believed the suspects were picked up in a vehicle.

The victim, Jermaine Barnett, 23, of Athens, was treated at the Stephens County Hospital and released.

Mize says witnesses were gathered and interviewed, photos taken, shell casings located and the area was secured with tape till the scene was turned over to CID.

Toccoa Police Department CID and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation continue to follow this case closely.

Mize encourages anyone with information about this case to call Detective David Cannon at the Toccoa Police Department at 706-282-3277 or the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-8477.