Barrow County Sheriff’s Department released additional details surrounding the Bethlehem shooting March 3.
Officers responded to reports of an active shooting at 916 Loganville Hwy around midnight on March 3.
Upon arrival, police reported two males lying on the ground and a third man on his knees in the drive lanes of the parking lot near WNB Factory. One man was lying on top of the other male on the ground, who was later identified as a juvenile. The man on his knees was to the side of the other two men. When police asked where the shooter was, the adult male pointed to the man on his knees, identified as Edwin Emiliano Rodriguez Pena. As he was pointed out, Rodriguez tossed a firearm away from his person and put his hands up. Officers advised him to crawl towards them, to which the he obeyed and officers were able to quickly get him in handcuffs.
As police escorted Rodriguez-Pena to the patrol vehicle, he repeatedly said he was sorry for shooting the juvenile that that he thought he had a gun.
The juvenile’s mother told officers she works at WNB Factory and had already left for the night when her general manager called her and told her an employee was acting strange and asked that someone check on him. She said that is when the juvenile and the adult male found on the scene drove to the restaurant to check on the employee, who they discovered was Rodriguez-Pena. The juvenile was on the phone with his mother when she began to hear a lot of noise and couldn’t get the juvenile to respond. About that time, she heard Rodriguez-Pena yelling that someone was shot. She drove to the scene and law enforcement was on scene as she arrived.
The adult male who was with the juvenile said Rodriguez-Pena was acting like he was under the influence of narcotics. He tried to get him to come home with them and they all started to leave the restaurant. As they were in the parking lot, Rodriguez-Pena began to shoot at the juvenile several times. An eye witness told police Rodriguez-Pena was pointing the gun at everyone at the scene and then turned the gun on himself and said that he was going to kill everyone there. About that time is when police arrived at the scene. Rodriguez-Pena was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm or knife during commission or attempt to commit certain felonies.
The juvenile victim was shot multiple times, but was conscious and taken to an area hospital, and expected to make a full recovery.
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