Relatives of the three people killed at a Coweta County gun range says they are continuing to heal. The support from the community has helped guide them through the tragedy.
Tommy Richard Hawk Sr. and Evelyn Gail Hawk, both 75, and their 18-year-old grandson, Alexander “Luke” Hawk were all killed Friday. Coweta County Coroner Richard Hawk, found the bodies of his parents and son Friday evening.
The family released a statement on Tuesday:
“Three beloved members of the Hawk family were taken too soon. We are heartbroken and our loss seems insurmountable. Please respect our family’s privacy during this time. With God, we must grieve and heal as a family.”
The family also thanked those in Coweta County and the small town of Grantville, where the Lock Stock and Barrel gun range became a horrific crime scene.
“It is so meaningful that so many in our community cherished them as we did and want to help shine a light in the darkness,” the Hawk family said. “Tommy, Evelyn and Luke will forever be in our hearts.”
The Hawk family has numerous ties to the community, and the Grantville police chief says he’s known the owner of a local gun range for about 30 years. And that makes it even harder to comprehend why anyone would kill the man, his wife, and their teenaged grandson during a robbery.
“These were just nice, easygoing people,” Chief Steve Whitlock told reporters. “I really have a hard time understanding what happened here.”
The investigation into the triple homicide is still in the early stages, Whitlock said late Monday. His small department, which has 13 officers, is getting tremendous help from both the Coweta and Troup county sheriff’s offices, along with the GBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said. The district attorney’s office also sent an investigator to the scene Friday night, Whitlock said.
Investigators are doing “everything they can” in the search for clues in the case, including responding to numerous tips that have been reported, Whitlock said. A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Anyone wishing to add to the reward fund can contact the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, authorities said.
As the range was preparing to close Friday, the business was robbed, sometime between 5:30 and 6 p.m., according to investigators. About 40 weapons and the security camera DVR were stolen, and three family members were shot to death, police said.
The killings have shocked the community, where the family was very involved in their church.
The Hawks have been members of Emmanuel Baptist Church in the Newnan area, which has about 50 members, for decades. Evelyn Hawk played the piano and her husband was a prayer warrior always willing to pray for those who were ill or just needed to hear the Lord’s word.
Luke worked the soundboard and his favorite song was “Leave With Nothing Left,” by the Clark Family. A senior at East Coweta High School, Luke was enrolled in a work-based learning program that allowed him to help his grandparents at their business, Principal Stephen Allen said Monday. Luke was planning to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in the fall.
Visitation will be held Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. at Unity Baptist Church in Newnan. The funeral will be held at the church at 2 p.m. Thursday, according to McKoon Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements.
IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION
The ATF: Anyone with information is asked to contact the ATF by calling 888-283-8477, email ATFTips@atf.gov or visit the tip line at atf.gov/contact/atf-tips. Those with information can also submit an anonymous tip via reportit.com.
The GBI: Anyone who visited the Lock, Stock and Barrel Shooting Range or saw anything along Bohannon Road on Friday is asked to call the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-TIPS.
TO HONOR THE FAMILY
GoFundMe: An online fundraising page has been created by a family member
The Coweta Community Foundation, Hawk Memorial: Donors can go directly to the Coweta community Foundation website and click ‘donate.’ Click the “donation in Memory or Honor” so the Foundation can track who made a donation and provide details for the family.
The Alexander “Luke” Hawk Memorial Scholarship at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC): Luke was supposed to start school at ABAC in the fall. Memorial contributions can be made at www.abac.edu/lukehawkmemorial or by check made payable to the ABAC Foundation and mailed to: ABAC Foundation (13), 2802 Moore Highway, Tifton, GA 31793.
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