Previous coverage
Here are links to previous stories about the Park Avenue shooting:
Statesboro police offer reward in Park Avenue shooting (posted Nov. 13)
Shooting victim stable; suspect remains at large (posted Nov. 11)
Park Avenue shooting suspect still at large (posted Nov. 10)
A man suspected of shooting a Park Avenue homeowner Nov. 10 is in custody, with warrants pending for his arrest.
Kenta Cook, 26, of Wrightsville, is being held in the Dekalb County Jail on other charges, but the Statesboro Police Department's Criminal Investigations Bureau linked him to the shooting of Freddie Dean Brinson, Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner said in a news release issued Monday.
Statesboro police have issued warrants for Cook on the Statesboro charges, and are awaiting extradition "pending court action and charges from other agencies," Turner said.
Brinson, 59, returned home around noon that day to find an armed suspect in his home, committing a burglary. The surprised suspect shot Brinson and fled the residence on foot.
Brinson suffered a serious gunshot wound and was taken to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, then airlifted to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. He was released from the hospital within a few days.
Statesboro police, Bulloch County Sheriff's Office, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Southern University Police Department, State Probation/Parole and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources searched the area, and in spite of several people saying they spotted the suspect during the manhunt, he escaped.
However, Statesboro police Detective Kevin Weatherly followed multiple leads that resulted in identifying Cook as a potential suspect within a few weeks of the shooting, Turner said.
"After the completion of testing at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations Coastal Crime Lab in Savannah, warrants were issued for Cook on multiple charges," Turner said.
Those charges include aggravated assault, burglary, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to contact Weatherly at (912) 764-9911. Anonymous tips may be submitted to www.tipsoft.com, or by sending a text messaging beginning with "TIPSSPD" to 274637 (CIMES).
Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.