The victims of a triple homicide in Georgia were the parents and son of the local coroner, who made the gruesome discovery at a gun range his family owns, the official said Monday.
Coweta County Coroner Richard Hawk couldn't reach his parents and son Friday when he went looking for them at their Lock Stock & Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville, about 50 miles south of downtown Atlanta.
That's where he stumbled onto an unimaginable crime scene and the bodies of his parents, Tommy and Evelyn Hawk, and his son, Luke Hawk.
"I didn't get the call in an official capacity. I'm the one who actually found them," Hawk said Monday. "They were not home the way they were supposed to be, and I went to check on them" at the gun range, "and that's when" the discovery was made.
Hawk's parents were each 75, and his son was 18, according to funeral home announcements. Luke Hawk was on spring break from East Coweta High School when the deadly robbery unfolded, his father said.
Hawk declined to discuss the crime, fearing he could jeopardize the investigation: "We don't have enough leads right now."
He said he's relying heavily on his faith to guide him through this troubling time.
"By God's grace and mercy," he added.
About 40 weapons and a video camera were taken in the robbery, which unfolded from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, police said.
Investigators are asking residents whether they saw any vehicles — other than a white Ford truck or a black Ford SUV — near the shooting range late Friday afternoon.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Grantville Police Department are all investigating. A $15,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest or a conviction of those responsible.
"The brutality of these senseless murders along with the fact that these killer(s) have acquired additional firearms make solving this case our top priority," Benjamin Gibbons, the special agent in charge of the ATF office in Atlanta, said in a statement.
Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood called the deaths "senseless and tragic," saying the slayings have left the community "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," Wood said in a statement. "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."
