Sheriff names two dead after shots on Pine Street in Vienna, Georgia

Two people were killed and 35 injured when shots were fired at a neighbourhood block party in Vienna, Georgia, early on Sunday. Dooly County Sheriff Craig Peavy named the dead at a news conference on Sunday night as Jaquevion Jackson, 21, of Cordele, and Michaela Jackson, 23, of Hawkinsville. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said deputies were already patrolling the gathering when the shots came from the 900 block of Pine Street at about 1:25 a.m.

The two who died were found in the 600 block of Pine Street and were pronounced dead at the scene. The GBI said the other 35 were taken to several regional hospitals. Earlier on Sunday, Dooly County coroner Brett Walls had told the New York Times that two men, ages 20 and 23, were dead, and that as many as 35 people had been shot around 1:15 a.m. The sheriff's later identification corrects both the ages and, in one case, the sex: Michaela Jackson is named among the dead. Walls said some wounds were serious and some were minor, and that a full account of severity was not yet available.

A party the sheriff had already staffed

Vienna is the seat of Dooly County, about 56 miles south of Macon, in a part of south Georgia where a block party can draw people from Cordele and Hawkinsville, the hometowns of the two who died. Peavy called the shooting a senseless act and said it was life-altering. He drew a contrast with Friday night, when the town had held a homecoming event. He said people at that gathering had respected law enforcement. The Sunday party was a separate neighbourhood event, and deputies were on the street before the first shot.

That detail matters for the investigation. The GBI is not reconstructing a scene that police found later. Deputies were present. They still do not, in the statements released by Sunday night, have a named shooter or a stated motive. No arrest had been announced in the GBI account carried by 41NBC. The physical split between the 900 block, where shots were fired, and the 600 block, where the two bodies were found, is about three blocks on the same street. It is consistent with people running, or with more than one burst of fire. Investigators have not said which.

Hospitals and the count

Thirty-five injured, taken to several hospitals, is a load for a rural county. Crisp Regional in Cordele and the larger hospitals in Macon are the usual receiving points for Dooly County trauma. The GBI did not list the hospitals. Walls said victims went to multiple facilities. Until those hospitals report discharges, the injury count can still move. Early wire copy said "at least 35" and "dozens". The sheriff's night briefing fixed the injured at 35 and the dead at two, with names.

Georgia records mass shootings through the GBI when a local agency asks for help, which Dooly County has done. The bureau's role is crime scene, ballistics and interviews. A block party at 1:25 a.m. produces a large witness list and a small number of people willing to speak on the night. Peavy's decision to name the dead on Sunday, rather than wait for a written release, is the local fact families in Cordele and Hawkinsville will use.

What is not known

No weapon has been described. No number of shooters has been given. No link to the Friday homecoming has been alleged. The sheriff used Friday only as a contrast. The confirmed timeline is the GBI's: deputies on patrol, shots at about 1:25 a.m. on 4 October from the 900 block of Pine Street, two dead in the 600 block, 35 injured and moved to regional hospitals. The names are Peavy's: Jaquevion Jackson, 21, and Michaela Jackson, 23.