Murder suspect arrested in front of school

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  • Sunshot by Michael Hall — Hart County deputies arrest Larrendrick Rashad Tabor Tuesday morning on Bowman Highway in front of South Hart Elementary for his alleged involvement in a potentially gang related shooting Monday night.
    Sunshot by Michael Hall — Hart County deputies arrest Larrendrick Rashad Tabor Tuesday morning on Bowman Highway in front of South Hart Elementary for his alleged involvement in a potentially gang related shooting Monday night.
  • Sunshot by Michael Hall — Hart County deputies arrest Larrendrick Rashad Tabor Tuesday morning on Bowman Highway in front of South Hart Elementary for his alleged involvement in a potentially gang related shooting Monday night.
    Sunshot by Michael Hall — Hart County deputies arrest Larrendrick Rashad Tabor Tuesday morning on Bowman Highway in front of South Hart Elementary for his alleged involvement in a potentially gang related shooting Monday night.
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Details are still emerging from a 12-hour manhunt that ended Tuesday morning when Hart County Deputies and Georgia State Troopers arrested a man in front of South Hart Elementary School they say shot and killed a man and wounded a woman Monday. 

Authorities were searching overnight for Larrendrick Rashad Tabor, 26, of Hartwell, who they believe was involved in a fatal shooting that could be connected to a recent shooting death in Anderson County. 

They believe Tabor shot and killed a man and wounded a woman by stabbing her and shooting her in the leg in the area of the 900 block of Friendship Road at around 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 27. The deceased victim was identified as Correndrick Alexander of Hartwell. The injured woman has not been identified as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland said Tabor is now facing murder, aggravated assault and home invasion charges from the Monday incident, among others, as well as aggravated assault charges in the city of Hartwell from a previous incident.

Cleveland said the victims and the suspect did know each other.

"It was a brutal killing," Cleveland said.

Tabor was arrested when he surrendered just before 8 a.m. Tuesday walking down Ga. Highway 172, Bowman Highway, in front of South Hart Elementary, Cleveland said. The school was closed for the day due to the overnight manhunt. Cleveland and a deputy stopped the suspect as he was walking and cuffed him without further incident.

Cleveland said Tabor was carrying a semi-automatic pistol with him, along with a knife, and had lost a lot of blood due to a gash on his right pinky finger that Tabor told deputies was the result of a struggle with another person with a knife. 

“He was walking down the road here on 172, and again, he lost a lot of blood from the knife attack last night,” Cleveland said following the arrest.

Cleveland said he was pleased the incident ended peacefully and without further incident. 

“We’ll take that everyday,” Cleveland said. 

He said authorities were looking for someone dressed in black, but was wearing coveralls when he was arrested.

Tabor was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Lavonia for treatment. Tabor is expected to be treated at the hospital and to go before a judge within the next 72 hours.

This is Hart County’s first murder since 2018.

“This is out of character for Hart County,” Cleveland said. He added that the county averages less than one murder per year. 

Cleveland said deputies believe Monday’s shooting could be connected to the death of Mericus Scott, 18, of Royston, whose body was found shot to death in a retention pond on Jan. 20 in Anderson County, S.C. Cleveland said local authorities are working with Anderson County on the investigation. Tabor was a person of interest in that case, Cleveland said, which authorities believe to be gang related.

Cleveland said initially on Monday that the shooting was gang related, but did not elaborate following the arrest on Tuesday.

When authorities arrived at the crime scene on Friendship Road on Monday, Cleveland said it was "chaos". A crowd began to gather and Cleveland said Hartwell City Police helped control the crowd. The deceased victim was found inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds, Cleveland said. The woman who was wounded ran from the house up to a neighbor's house where she called for help.

Authorities ascertained a name and description of the suspect and began a night-long search, tracking the suspect with bloodhounds and a state patrol helicopter. Law enforcement heavily patrolled a roughly two-mile perimeter throughout the night.

The woman who was wounded is alive and her injuries do not appear to be life threatening, Cleveland said Tuesday morning. 

Hart, Franklin and Elbert county law enforcement was involved in the search overnight Monday along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol. Bloodhounds and a Georgia State Patrol helicopter were deployed during the manhunt. 

The GBI is now leading the investigation, Cleveland said.