Authorities say a suspect has been apprehended and charged with murder in a triple homicide at a country club outside Atlanta last week, following a statewide search.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office stated Bryan Rhoden, 23, was captured in Chamblee, Georgia, roughly a half-hour from the murder scene, on Thursday evening in connection with the shootings with the help of the US Marshals Service.
Cobb County Chief Tim Fox announced during a press conference Thursday night that he was charged with three charges of murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of kidnapping.
Rhoden, who has ties to the metro Atlanta area, was recognized as a suspect in the days following the event at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw.
According to authorities, a golf pro was shot and killed in broad daylight on the country club’s golf course on July 3, and two other men were found shot to death in the back of a pickup vehicle parked on the green.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Fox declined to comment on any probable reason for the murders or how Rhoden was allegedly linked to the crimes.
Golf pro Eugene Siller, 46, was shot in the head after he allegedly stumbled across a crime in progress. Police said that he was killed “because he witnessed an active crime taking place.”
Siller and Rhoden have no connection to each other, according to police.
The bodies of two other victims, Paul Pierson, 76, of Kansas, and Henry Valdez, 46, of California, were discovered nearby in the bed of a white Ram 3500 pickup truck. They were thought to have been murdered on the golf course not long before they were discovered.
Police say that Rhoden was the only shooter in the incident.
