New details in deadly weekend shooting on Sand Bar Ferry

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re learning new developments after Augusta was added to the map of mass shooting sites after a weekend outbreak of gunfire killed two people and injured four.

It comes a day after the sheriff held a news conference to inform the public of the possibility of retaliation between the two motorcycle groups.

Sheriff Richard Roundtree said the shooting grew out of a dispute between two motorcycle groups, one of which traveled from Florida to take out retaliation.

Roundtree says they have federal partners giving them real time information on the possible threat of another shooting. But there are so many questions about what happened here last weekend.

On Monday, Johnathan Keaton, 32, of St. Marys, Ga., was still receiving treatment in the hospital. He has now been released and joins the other suspects charged with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

There’s still information about this case we’re working on.

We still don’t know what the incident was in Florida that sparked this shooting or how big of a threat there still is.

We do know another suspect in this case was released from the hospital and booked.

We also know the sheriff is calling this situation a wake-up call for his agency.

“It’s a lessoned learned for us and I think it may help other neighborhoods in other cities become safer too by use sharing our information with them, sharing this incident, what we learned, and what we gathered, we definitely pass that on to them so we don’t get another retaliation in someone else’s backyard,” said Roundtree.

We previously reported 10 suspects were arrested and charged with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault:

• 31-year-old James Bryant of Fayetteville, N.C.
• 39-year-old Freddie Crosson of Saint Marys, Ga.
• 38-year-old Tyson Harper of Lumberton, N.C.
• 26-year-old McKayla Rickett of Kingsland, Ga.
• 44-year-old Larry Ross of Hephzibah, Ga.
• 30-year-old Cory Sapp of Kingsland, Ga.
• 30-year-old Jessica Sapp of Kingsland, Ga.
• 42-year-old Larry Sutton of Fayetteville, N.C.
• 43-year-old Kenneth Taylor of Boynton Beach, Fla.
• 28-year-old Matthew Willis of Saint Marys, Ga.

Two people are still receiving treatment at a hospital. One faces murder warrants: Deja Dotson, 30, of St. Marys, Ga.

“This can happen somewhere else’s city and that’s why we’re trying to prevent what happened in our city on Saturday from happening in someone else’s city tomorrow,” said Roundtree.

Four suspects are a part of Outcast and eight are Thug Riders.

The gunfire erupted just before 6:35 p.m. Saturday during a cookout at the Outcast motorcycle group’s clubhouse at Sand Bar Ferry Road and East Boundary, according to Roundtree.

Investigators found more than 150 shell casings there, and even a Richmond County patrol car was hit.

When asked how to stop people from coming into Augusta with violence in mind, Roundtree said his agency has to have good intelligence and that deputies can see that crime can cross state lines easily.

“Very rarely do we see Florida to Augusta, but we have to increase our network, and a lot further reach. It is a lesson learned for us that we need to better our network when it comes to gun violence and gang violence that may spill over,” Roundtree said.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.