Five people have been arrested in connection with the deadly quadruple shooting at a home in a rural part of the county, Henry County police said late Thursday.
Three of the four people shot at the home on Moccasin Gap Road in a remote part of McDonough are dead. The fourth person — a woman who authorities say is in her early 20s — is clinging to life at Grady Hospital. Henry Police Capt. Joey Smith said the dead include two men both in their 20s and a woman who was in her late teens or early 20s. All were shot at close range in the living room area of the home. The shooter apparently knew them, authorities said.
Smith said Jacob Cole Kosky, 22, of McDonough and Mathew Baker, 19, of McDonough have been arrested and charged with three counts of murder.
Three other people — Jacob Williams, 18, of McDonough, Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough and Brooke Knight, 19, of Locust Grove — are accused of obstructing the investigation.
Police would not release the names of the victims nor a motive for the shooting.
Authorities were called to the home around 2 a.m. after getting a frantic 911 call from a woman at the home of a possible home invasion. Police are now saying it’s unclear if the incident was a home invasion or domestic dispute.
“There was a little social gathering,” at the home, Smith said. Around 10 people were at the home during the gathering Wednesday night, Smith said.
“It appears that they were all up at the time or together,” Smith said.
The home is owned by Ray and Donna Olinger who were out of town on vacation at the time of the shooting. They cut their vacation short to return home.
Police spent most of Thursday at the home as the media, neighbors, friends and family members gathered to find out more information. A spotted brown and white horse grazed in the fenced-in front yard as remnants of a small campfire smoldered next to a cooler.
Relatives began arriving on scene just after 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Throughout the day, they came and as they learned of their loved one, they shrieked, moaned and sobbed. One man took a walk down the road, a deputy accompanied him rubbing his back. At one point EMS and a fire truck showed up apparently to assist some people overcome after they learned another family member was among the dead.
Police spoke with a woman who lives at the home, and contacted witnesses inside the residence as well as neighbors.
As police processed the crime scene, authorities made a felony traffic stop of a vehicle whose occupants had knowledge of the shooting.
Smith said some people came forward with information for police throughout the day. The shooting was the talk of Ola High School , said Harrison Frazier, 18, who attends the school. He lives three houses away from the crime scene. Frazier said he heard helicopters hovering overhead around 2 or 3 a.m. Thursday.
“This is very shocking. I don’t know what would have caused this,” said Frazier who came to the scene after he got home from school Thursday. “It’s a pretty remote area. Everybody knows everyone. You hear gun fire every once in a while but usually its target practice.”
Fred Rainer arrived at the home early Thursday morning after getting a frantic call from the homeowners who asked him to go the scene.
“I”m definitely shocked,” the longtime Henry resident said. “I kinda lived in a little bubble. It’s very much a sleepy little town with salt-of-the-earth people. It’s grown. The city has come to meet us.”
The area is a picturesque stretch of country life: Pecan trees dot the landscape. Cows and horses graze the rolling acres and signs warning motorists to be on the lookout for people on horseback line the two-lane roads.
Joshua Milam who lived in the area said Thursday while he was devastated to hear of the shootings he didn’t feel unsafe.
“There’s not a lot of homicides in the county,” Smith said. “But an incident like this has an impact on the community.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Henry police.
Staff writer Lauren Foreman contributed to this article.
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