Third teen sought in Georgia sniper attacks

Dawson, Ga. -- Two college students were taken into custody in a series of sniper shootings in several counties and a third man is being sought.

Dawson County's Sheriff said he hopes to have 19-year-old Seth Adam Kirkland of Cumming behind bars sometime Tuesday. Kirkland is the third in a trio of teens authorities believe to be connected to more than 30 sniper type shootings in six north Georgia counties in late January.

The other two suspects, 18-year-old Richard Adam Toole of Bowman and 19-year-old Barkley Phillip Hart of Royston, are already in jail and will appear before a Dawson County Magistrate Judge later Tuesday. They face multiple counts of aggravated assault in connection with several sniper attacks on homes, businesses and vehicles a couple of weeks ago. No one was injured in the shootings, most of which happened near Dawsonville the weekend of January 20 and 21.

Sgt. Tony Wooten of the Dawson County Sheriff's Office said Toole and Hart were caught after an alert news viewer saw and read stories about the unsolved shootings. The tipster suggested authorities check out another similar shooting that led to the teens' arrest in Franklin County January 31. They were caught in that incident after supposedly shooting at a vehicle in Madison County. The owner of the target vehicle chased the teens' SUV into Franklin County where it hit and killed a deer.

After the wreck, Franklin County authorities found a .22 caliber rifle and spent shell casings in the teens' SUV. Shells from that weapon as well as other ballistics tests helped link them to some of the other sniper shootings in Dawson County. Now they face several more charges in several counties.

Both Toole and Hart are freshmen at Emmanuel College in Franklin County. They were supposedly highly recruited for the college baseball team. No word from the college yet on their current academic or athletic status.