Three suspects in a shooting outside a Buckhead Home Depot were arrested Monday after an investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies led authorities to a Paulding County home.
James Daniels, 17, Nicholas Poole, 19, and Bryce Dowell, 18, were taken into custody at the home in Hiram when Paulding sheriff’s deputies and Cobb police ordered them to come out. The home was connected to two separate drive-by shootings in Paulding and in Cobb, according to the Paulding sheriff’s agency.
The three men were confirmed by Atlanta police to be suspects in a shooting last month that injured three bystanders in the parking lot of a Home Depot on Piedmont Road. The gunfire was the result of a fight that started at a nearby rooftop pool party, Atlanta police said.
A fourth man, 20-year-old Christopher Eli Koen, was also arrested Monday on numerous charges related to Paulding’s investigation but was not facing charges in the Atlanta crime. Sgt. Ashley Henson, the spokesman for the Paulding sheriff, said Koen was tailed from the Hiram home and led deputies on a chase.
Paulding deputies and Cobb police began working together after they found a link between two separate drive-by shootings, Henson said. The details of the Cobb incident are not clear, but Henson said the Paulding drive-by happened at a home in the 7600 block of Nebo Road early Friday morning.
Investigators said “multiple rounds” were fired into the home by people who had known ties to Cobb County. Cobb police later began surveilling the same Hiram home as a part of their investigation into their own drive-by shooting, officials said.
“While conducting surveillance on that residence, Cobb officers gave information to Paulding deputies regarding the individuals and vehicles that were on the scene,” Henson said. “Cobb officers indicated that they did observe weapons in the possession of some of the individuals at the residence.”
When the officers saw a red Honda Civic leave the home on Monday, they alerted Paulding deputies. A deputy spotted the Honda about 2:15 p.m. and tried to pull it over, but it sped off when the deputy turned on his blue lights, according to Henson.
Its driver pulled into the driveway of a home, crashed into a parked car and then made his way back to Nebo Road, he said.
“After a short pursuit, the vehicle crashed at the corner of Nebo Road and Jack Weldon Drive,” Henson said. “It was later determined that the vehicle was stolen out of Cherokee County and contained a small amount of marijuana inside of it.”
After the second crash, the driver, later identified as Koen, got out of the car and ran into a wooded area, he said. Koen was arrested following an hourslong search and was armed when he was taken into custody, according to authorities.
He is facing multiple charges related to the pursuit and crashes, as well as weapons and drugs charges. More charges are likely as Cobb’s investigation progresses, Henson said.
Later Monday afternoon, Paulding deputies and Cobb police officers surrounded the Nebo Road home arrested Daniels, Poole and Dowell. Officials said investigators found and seized “multiple firearms” during a subsequent search.
The three men are facing aggravated assault charges in the shooting May 15 outside the Peninsula at Buckhead on Piedmont Road. According to Atlanta police, a fight that began at the building’s rooftop pool traveled down to the lobby and across the street to the Home Depot, where three people were shot, including a 71-year-old man.
The victims were not believed to be the intended targets of the gunfire, police said at the time.
Police previously released photos of three suspects and asked for the public’s help to identify them.
Daniels, Poole and Dowell are expected to be transferred to the Fulton County Jail, according to Atlanta police. They were also expected to be charged in Cobb, but police in that county have not provided any details on their role in the investigation.
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