2 shot to death in Americus homicide

AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) - Two men, accused of shooting at each other Wednesday night on Country Club Drive in Americus, have died.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m., police responded to an apartment complex in the 100 block of Country Club Drive about shots being fired.

Two men were found with gunshot wounds. One of the men, later identified as Michael Atkins, 24, was shot to death. The other man, Jekwan Cobb, 26, was taken to the hospital and later died from his injuries.

Police say after an initial investigation, they believe the shots were fired between the two men because of a possible domestic situation.

Currently, no other suspects are thought to be involved in the shooting. Police said this was an isolated incident.

“This incident is being investigated jointly by the Americus Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,” Americus police said in a release.

Linda and Charlie Gardner’s property was hit directly by the shooting. Bullet holes were left on a refrigerator and cabinets inside their son’s Airbnb right next door to where the shooting happened.

“We are just so thankful that we did not have any tenants in the unit at the time,” Linda said. “My heartfelt condolences and sympathy does go out to both families because I have had a tragedy like this happen in my own family.”

The Gardners have just one message for the community as they just barely escaped another tragedy.

“We’ve got to put the guns down. Put all this violence stuff away,” they said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Americus Police Department at (229) 924-3677 or after hours at (229) 937-9011.

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