Man Arrested For Shooting UGA Student From Milton: Police

ATHENS, GA — A 20-year-old man from Athens was arrested April 23 in connection with the shooting of a University of Georgia student from Milton.

Zarren Garner, 20, of Athens, was arrested for two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault, Athens-Clark County Chief of Police Cleveland Spruill, Sr. said in a press conference Tuesday morning. Garner is currently at the Athens-Clark County Jail with no bond.

Spruill said there was a "massive man hunt" to identify and find the man who robbed two UGA students, shooting one multiple times. Garner was located at 1:40 a.m. at an address in Gwinnett. Spruill said the public was involved in identifying Garner from the sketch released and tips received. Spruill said Garner has a "loaded criminal background," but did not go into the history at the press conference. Due to this background, law enforcement officers recognized the sketch as Garner, which made him the primary suspect during the search.

Garner is charged with shooting Tate Prezzano, 22, a junior communications major from Milton and Cambridge High School graduate who is on UGA’s lacrosse team. Prezzano was shot multiple times just after 7:15 a.m. on April 22 while he was waiting at a bus stop near campus at 2165 South Milledge Avenue.

Prezzano was given first aid and taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a release.

While officers were arriving, a second call came in about an armed robbery moments before in the same location where a second UGA student was robbed at gunpoint, police said. That student was not hurt in the hold-up and was able to give police a description of the suspect.

Dobbin Prezzano, Tate's father, spoke at the press conference and gave an update on Tate's condition.

"Tate is doing well," Dobbin said. "The most important thing is he's getting rest. Today we look forward to Tate making progress. It was a pretty tough day yesterday. We are looking forward to making small steps to his recovery today. We got some work to do. The goal from the medical team perspective yesterday was get rest. Today will be more productive and more testing we weren't able to do yesterday based on his progress. Based on what Tate went through with gunshots in and around his head and neck area, we're blessed and thankful for the conversation we're having today that could have been a lot different. He has breathing tubes in, so he's not able to talk. But he is giving a thumbs up, which is good."

Dobbin said there was an outpouring of support, and he thanked law enforcement, healthcare providers at Athens Regional Hospital, and local friends and family from Milton, Alpharetta and Cumming, as well as nationwide.

"We want to say to everyone who touch based with us the past 24 hours, we appreciate you," Dobbin said. "It's impossible to reach out because of the outpouring of care and support we got. We can't tell you the unbelievable support we've received. It went up the chain to the governor, and we received a call from Gov. Brian Kemp last night in support of (the law enforcement officers) and gave the green light to bring justice to tough situation. The governor is also a parent of a student at UGA."

School police and the GBI were all involved in the investigation, alongside the Athens-Clark County Police.

"We are deeply saddened by these tragic and shocking events," an email sent to notify students, faculty and staff of the incident said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to our two students who were involved — one of whom is hospitalized — as well as their families and friends.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Lt. Stephen Daniel at Stephen.Daniel@accgov.com or 706-613-3330, ext. 235, or Sgt. David Norris at David.Norris@accgov.com or 706-613-3330, ext. 556.