Crime & Safety
Canton Shooting Suspect Released From Hospital
Craig Pitts and his brother Courtney Pitts are accused of shooting and wounding three people Saturday evening in unincorporated Canton.
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One of two suspects in Saturday’s shooting in unincorporated Canton has been released from the hospital.
Find out what's happening in Canton-Sixesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Canton resident Craig Pitts has also been booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center and has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain crimes, sheriff’s office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker said.
Fellow suspect and brother Courtney Pitts remains at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
Find out what's happening in Canton-Sixesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Deputies with the agency responded around 8:42 p.m. Dec. 5 to a shots fired and person wounded call on Canton Street, which is west of Waleska Road/S.R. 140 near its intersection with Reinhartdt College Parkway.
Deputies arrived on the scene and found three individuals all suffering from gunshot wounds, sheriff’s office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker.
The victims, Gary Hart, 27, Chaz Hart, 25 and Jermaine Gay, 39, all of Canton, were transported to area hospitals to be treated for non-life threatening injuries to the face, knee and hip, respectively, Baker added.
Baker stated the Harts are brothers.
According to witness statements, Courtney and Craig Pitts allegedly ”pulled up in a gray Ford Mustang and started shooting at people,” Baker previously told Patch.
According to the witnesses, the Pitts fled the area in the same Mustang.
Moments later, a deputy on patrol in the vicinity of the incident spotted the Mustang on Lucky Street and attempted to pull over the vehicle.
A spokesperson with the Georgia State Patrol said deputies were involved in a short police chase that took officers northwest along S.R. 140. The Mustang then veered onto Pea Ridge Road where it left the roadway and struck a power pole.
The spokesperson added that speeds in the chase reached over 100 miles per hour, but added “there’s no way” the Mustang could have been traveling that fast on Pea Ridge Road before the crash occurred.
The state agency continues to investigate the crash.
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Photo: Ryan Craig Pitts. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office
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