Fugitive in 2001 Cobb gang-related shooting captured

Fourteen years after a fatal gang-related shooting in Cobb County, a fugitive suspect was arrested Thursday.

Noy Siharah, also known as James Siharah and “Loonie,” was taken into custody in Ellenwood by FBI agents and Atlanta police officers, the FBI’s Atlanta office said in a news release.

Siharah, 33, of the Fresno/San Jose, Calif., area, was wanted in connection with the death of Somkid Phoumichit on May 12, 2001 at a Marietta apartment complex.

Phoumichit, 40, was visiting family at the Gresham Road complex when members of the Tiny Loco Bloods gang arrived in the area to look for rivals, police previously said. When they did not find anyone, they began shooting into apartments.

Someone opened fire with an AK-47 assult rifle. Two rounds went through a wall and struck Phoumichit.

Siharah and seven others were charged with murder in the weeks following Phoumichit’s death, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

A federal unlawful flight to avoid prosecution arrest warrant was issued for Siharah, who is now being held at the Cobb County jail.