Drive by shooting suspects linked to Winder assault

The two Bethlehem men arrested last week in connection with a drive by shooting in Sandy Springs are also believed to be responsible for an aggravated assault which occurred in the City of Winder.

Gianluca Gomez and Esli Villalta were charged with aggravated assault and participation in street gang activity in connection with the shooting on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs and are facing additional charges related to the Winder incident.

Gomez and Villalta were detained by Winder Police on March 9 after the two men went to the police department to ask why law enforcement officials had been to their residence.

An investigator with the Winder Police Department interviewed the two men and realized they were the two individuals being sought by Sandy Springs Police. As a result of the interview, the investigator was able to determine that Gomez and Villalta were the likely perpetrators in an aggravated assault which took place at the Zaxby’s in Winder.

Police were dispatched to Zaxby’s on March 3 after two men pointed a gun at a pedestrian. Police were able to obtain a vehicle description and a description of the suspects. The vehicle, a 2006 silver Toyota Corolla, matched the description of the vehicle believed to have been used by the perpetrators in the Sandy Springs drive by shooting.

On March 8, investigators with the Sandy Springs Police Department requested that Barrow County Sheriff’s deputies go to 604 Sleeping Meadow Lane in Bethlehem to assist with efforts to locate the suspects' vehicle.

A witness to the shooting provided police with a tag number and a vehicle description. The registration information led authorities to the Bethlehem address.

After the mother of one of the suspects informed the men that authorities had been to their residence, the men went to the Winder Police Department and were held until Sandy Springs Police investigators arrived.

More charges against Gomez and Villalta are pending as the investigation into the drive by shooting continues.

One of the victims in the shooting, a 14-year-old boy, was treated and released. A second victim remains in Grady Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach.