GBI seeks four suspects in shooting

It was a bizarre incident at Duncan Park in Fairburn that has many questions still unanswered. In its wake, a man who had been kidnapped was seriously injured and four others are being sought by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

A 33 year-old Hull, Georgia man identified as Andreas Jermaine Sims was found Dec. 18 behind the park’s recreation center by Fairburn Police after receiving reports of a shooting. Sims was found with his hands bound behind his back with an electrical lamp cord, according to Det. Sgt. J.R. Smith. Sims had been shot twice, Smith said. Sims told investigators he had been kidnapped from the Athens area and had been brought to the Duncan Park location.

When asked by officers at the scene if he could move, Sims said he could not move his legs, according to police reports. Sims was transported to Atlanta Medical Center where it was determined that one of the shots from a handgun of undetermined caliber entered and exited his right arm then entered his abdomen, striking his liver and a lung and coming to rest after severing one of the thoracic vertebrae, Smith said. The damage to the spine is expected to leave Sims permanently paralyzed, said Smith. The other gunshot hit Sims in the left arm, fracturing the bone, he said.

Smith said GBI agents have warrants for four male suspects related to the kidnapping, though their current whereabouts are unknown. The incident is under investigation by Fairburn Police.

Anyone with information relating to this incident is asked to contact Det. Smith between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 770-964-1441.

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