‘I hope people pray’: Neighbors react to fatal shooting in Evans

EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Columbia County deputies are continuing to investigate what appears to be a murder suicide in Evans.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office discovered two people shot in the head off of Willow Lake in Evans, Sunday afternoon.

Deputies say a father shot the mother of his 16-year-old son and turned the gun on himself outside of his home.

The sheriff’s office says the male has been identified as 51-year-old Larry Jacobs and the female as 49-year-old Tijuana Dent.

We spoke to some people who live in the neighborhood. They say the two parents were no longer together, and none of them saw this coming.

It is a neighborhood that is typically quiet.

“It was a very nice Sunday afternoon, lots of families walking in the neighborhood. It’s usually very quiet, and very family oriented. And I was getting ready to walk outside, and I heard all these cops’ sirens. So I turned to my husband and said, something’s going on in the neighborhood,” said Sandra Klein, a neighbor.

Many people were worried.

“Cop cars just came flying through our gate. And he slowed down and then turned off the sounds as he got around the corner down the road. And then there was a second one, and then a third one, and then the fourth one, and then the fifth one. And it was like okay, something bad’s happening,” she said.

Many people in the neighborhood told News 12 that people were coming outside of their homes trying to figure out what happened, hoping their neighbors were okay.

“We only have one way in and one way out. So it’s a very small area, and homes are really tight in here. So a lot of people know each other from walking in the neighborhood,” said Klein.

Jacobs was a Marine veteran who worked at the VA. Jacobs and Dent shared a son together who came home to find his mother injured. The incident report says he tried to pull her inside the doorway.

“I hope people pray for them and keep them in their thoughts and prayers and, you know, hope things will get worked out with the family members,” said Klein.

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