Man shot to death in Paulding County neighborhood

Carldrake Finnister (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

Carldrake Finnister (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

A 20-year-old man was shot multiple times and killed near the tennis courts of his Paulding County neighborhood late Monday, according to police.

It was the second homicide in 10 days for the city of Dallas.

The latest incident happened in the Vista Lake neighborhood on Ga. 278, Capt. Bill Gorman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“The victim in this case was at the picnic tables with a young lady,” Gorman said.

Carldrake Finnister, who lived in the neighborhood, was sitting with a friend when another friend contacted him, Gorman said. Finnister told the friend to come over, according to police.

But that friend, whose name was not released, had another man with him, Gorman said. And that man, whose name was also not released, has been named a person of interest in the case.

“According to the friend, he had no idea that there was animosity between Carldrake and the person of interest,” Gorman said Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses told police a verbal altercation turned physical before shots were fired. Finnister was shot multiple times and died at the scene, Gorman said.

“They just didn’t like one another,” he said.

The shooting death remained under investigation late Tuesday.

In an unrelated shooting on Aug. 19, a former Paulding County high school athlete was shot to death after attending a football game. Darnell Isaiah Priester, 16, was arrested and charged with murder in the death of 18-year-old Tommy Lee Robinson.

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