US Marshals arrest local man wanted in shooting

Sep. 22—EATONTON, Ga. — A Milledgeville man sought since a shooting at a convenience store in Eatonton earlier this summer has been arrested in New York.

Officers with the Eatonton Police Department also took a juvenile wanted in connection with the same case into custody Monday afternoon. Three older suspects from Milledgeville were arrested on charges unrelated to the June 4 shooting at the Shell Mart at 204 E. Sumter St. in Eatonton.

Several charges have been filed against the older suspect and teen.

The shootings stemmed from a disagreement between members of two rival gangs, the Gangster Disciples and the Bloods.

"We've been trying to locate all the suspects involved in that shooting," Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell told The Union-Recorder during a Tuesday afternoon interview at police department.

The police chief said Gary Howard was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Long Island New York on Monday. His arrest came just two hours after Cardwell said he told U.S. Marshals that Howard was wanted on outstanding criminal warrants.

Several nearby residences and vehicles were damaged by gunfire during the shooting in June.

No one was reportedly injured during the hail of gunfire, which happened shortly before 2 a.m. and involved more than 30 bullets.

"After the shooting, we had information that [Howard] fled to Florida, around the Tampa area, and then some information that he had come back to Baldwin County," Cardwell said. "At that point, we didn't have enough information to issue a warrant."

When police had the evidence they needed to make an arrest, they discovered that Howard had left Baldwin County and had gone to the Long Island, N.Y. area, Cardwell said.

Howard faces 12 counts of aggravated assault, eight counts of criminal damage to property, and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, the police chief said.

"[Sheriff Howard Sills and I] are talking about a plan to bring him back here," Cardwell said. "It looks like we'll be going to New York to get him."

The police chief said he was informed that Howard planned to waive extradition back to Georgia.

"But I don't know that for certain," Howell said.

Ironically, about 4 p.m. Monday at Jimmy Davis Park in Eatonton, Cardwell said Eatonton Police Officer Alex Rickey spotted some guys shooting a video along with a parked Ford Crown Victoria there, even though the park is closed to the public.

"He (Rickey) recognized one of them as a juvenile who Baldwin County had 14 warrants outstanding for aggravated assault," Cardwell said.

The police chief said officers and detectives with the Milledgeville Police Department, along with special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Gang Task Force, were investigating crimes related to those charges.

"Officer Rickey called me and said he thought he saw someone with a gun in one of his hands," Cardwell said. "Rickey then saw him put it back into the car. So, myself, along with Officer Rebecca Meeks, left here and staged in close proximity to the park. We were planning to stay there until some other officers from the police department, the sheriff's office and GBI Gang Task Force could get there, but we couldn't wait because they were packing up and getting ready to leave."

The police chief said they went ahead and took the juvenile into custody.

The juvenile is 15 and cannot be identified because of his age under Georgia law.

"We picked him up on the Baldwin County warrants," Cardwell said.

Another man at the park was wanted on aggravated assault charges out of Baldwin and Wilkinson counties. He was identified as Alquayveon Shinholster of Milledgeville.

"We found a .38-caliber handgun under the Crown Vic parked at the park," Cardwell said. "That gun turned out to have been stolen. The other gun was one that Officer Rickey saw a man holding and place into the car. It was an automatic weapon and was illegal because it had been modified."

Cardwell identified the other suspects arrested there as:

* Montavious Tristen Williams, 18, of South Elbert Street, Milledgeville, was charged with one count of theft by taking and taken to the Putnam County Jail in Eatonton.

* Javan Mitchell, 20, Barnes Avenue, Milledgeville, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. He was also taken to the Putnam County Jail.