UPDATE: Police arrest suspect in Grantville triple homicide

GRANTVILLE, Ga. — UPDATE: Police announced they have made an arrest in the Grantville triple homicide.

Friday, April 15, police arrested Jacob Christian Muse, 21, of College Park, Georgia. Muse is charged with three counts of Malice Murder in connection with the April 8, 2022 triple homicide at the Lock, Stock & Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville, Georgia.  Muse has been booked into the Coweta County Jail and this joint investigation remains active and ongoing.

ORIGINAL: A reward of up to $15,000 is being offered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the City of Grantville and the National Sport Shooting Federation to help solve a Friday night shooting that left three people dead.

Grantville police said early Friday night the owner of a local gun range, his wife and their 18-year-old grandson were shot and killed at their place of business on Bohannon Road.

Police said they were called out to the Lock, Stock and Barrel Shooting Range early Friday night when the owner’s son walked in and found the victims dead inside the business.

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Grantville police said that the 75-year-old owner, Thomas Richard Hawk Sr., his 75-year-old wife and their grandson were the victims in the crime. Police called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the ATF to help them with the investigation. The three agencies worked into the early morning hours of Saturday trying to process the scene and piece together what may have led up to the shooting and to find leads on a potential suspect or suspects.

Investigators said that as many as 40 guns and the range’s surveillance camera and recorder were taken from the scene.

The triple murder has many in the Grantville area on edge. The GBI, ATF and Grantville police were on scene all night long and well into the daylight hours of Saturday.

Channel 2′s Justin Carter spoke with Grantville police chief Steve Whitlock Saturday morning. Whitlock said he’s been in law enforcement for 40-years. He said this robbery hits him like nothing else ever has..

“I’ve been here eight years and we’ve never had anything like this,” Whitlock said. “Right now, I’m just speechless. I have a hard time talking about it because they were friends of ours. I’ve known them for a long time.”

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Whitlock said investigators believe the robbery and shooting happened around 5:30 Friday evening which is when the range normally closes. He said Hawk’s son came by the business around 8 p.m. and was the person who made the horrific discovery.

Tommy and Evelyn Hawk had run Lock, Stock and Barrel and been a part of the small, tight-knit community for nearly 30-years. Their grandson Luke was on spring break from high school, helping his grandparents at the shop.

“It’s really hard because we don’t have stuff like this here in Grantville,” Whitlock said. “This is a nice, quiet little town”.

The veteran police chief said this incident is personal.

“We stopped by here at least once or twice a week,” Whitlock said. “I was here Tuesday talking to them and the assistant chief was here on Wednesday talking to them.”

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Chief Whitlock said they don’t have any video evidence to work with right now. He said the murders are a devastating blow to the Grantville community, many of whom knew and loved the Hawk family.

“Tommy would do anything for anybody,” Whitlock said. “It’s just a nice family. It’s been really hard.”

The loss has had an impact throughout Coweta County. On Saturday, Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood was also very close to the Hawk family and posted a heartfelt letter on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page:

Last night, the Hawk Family, the City of Grantville, and the Coweta Community were forever broken and changed by the senseless and tragic event that happened in Grantville. Family was taken from the Hawk family, and us, way too soon and we are left with hurt, pain, and very little answers. I am a life-long member of Coweta and every family, especially the Hawk family, are a valuable and precious part of my life. My heart is hurting and my prayers to our God is that He is ever present right now with Richard and his family; providing peace, strength and overwhelming love from God and our community. I am also fervently praying that God will use our law enforcement community and the Coweta Community to bring justice swiftly. Richard has served faithfully for decades in our law enforcement community. He’s a committed public servant and moreover a personal friend of mine. I have and will continue to provide every resource available to speak justice for the Hawk family. Now is the time that our Coweta family needs to direct our thoughts and prayers to Richard and his family. Theresa, my family, Sheriff’s Office members and I hurting for you and your family and we will be beside you always.

With a broken heart,

Lenn Wood

Whitlock told Channel 2 he believes the community is safe, he is just hoping someone may have seen vehicles or something suspicious in the area. He’s asking anyone with information to call Grantville police at 770-254-3911

The ATF is asking anyone with information about the shootings and robbery to contact them at 1-888-ATF-TIPS (888-283-8477) or email ATFTips@atf.gov. You can also go through its website at www.atf.gov/contact/atf-tips. Tips can be submitted anonymously using the Reportit® app or by visiting www.reportit.com.

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