Police on Monday identified the victims of a double homicide in Gwinnett County, in which the suspected shooter was tracked down and arrested in Tennessee.
The sequence of events began around 10 p.m. Friday when officers responded to an apartment complex in the 3200 block of Windscape Village Lane in unincorporated Norcross regarding a person shot. Gwinnett police said they located a man with a wound to his neck and a witness.
Police said they were then notified about two people inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds in the area of Harbins Road and Harbins Point Lane, about a five-minute drive away, in unincorporated Lilburn. Both were pronounced dead.
On Monday, police identified the victims as 17-year-old Jesua Valesca Garcia Perez and 28-year-old Javier Hernandez Martinez. Both are from Norcoss.
According to investigators, the suspect, identified as Javier Aragon Ruiz, was in a car with Perez and Martinez that night when he got into an argument and shot both of them.
Soon after, police said Ruiz walked to Windscape Village Lane, where he tried to shoot another person, but the gun did not fire. The 54-year-old then used a knife to attack a man, who suffered a life-threatening laceration to his neck, authorities said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming the surviving victims.
“Ruiz was a known associate of the four victims,” police spokesperson Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle said in a statement. “Detectives are still investigating what the motive was for the attack.”
After being identified as a suspect, Ruiz was discovered traveling in Tennessee. State troopers found his vehicle and took him into custody, Gwinnett officials said.
He is being held at the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office. Officials did not say if or when he will be extradited to Georgia.
“The Gwinnett County Police Department would like to thank the swift actions of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Metro Nashville Police Aviation Unit and Robertson County Sheriff’s Office in locating Javier Aragon Ruiz and getting him into custody,” Winderweedle said.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
