Officers identified the victim and suspect in an attack that left a father dead and a son in jail for allegedly beating him with a crowbar.
The son, Joseph Allen Cook, was also accused of punching a police officer.
Investigators said the incident started with an argument Tuesday in the driveway of the the family’s home on Bridle Glen Drive in Buford.
That argument escalated, and the father, 68-year-old Larry Cook, called 911 at 6:19 p.m., Gwinnett police Cpl. Michele Pihera said.
“The dispatcher could hear yelling and someone requesting police,” Pihera said. “The phone line disconnected a few minutes later.”
Then, a witness called 911 to report the attack.
“The caller, a neighbor, stated that one man was beating the other man in the driveway of the home,” Pihera said.
He used a crowbar that officers later found on the scene, she said.
The father died from blunt force trauma, investigators said. Afterward, they told Channel 2 Action News, Joseph Cook went inside the home and told his stepmother what he had done.
Officers took the suspect into custody.
“While he was at our headquarters, he physically assaulted one of our officers, and that officer is being treated for facial injuries,” Pihera said.
The officer is expected to be OK. Investigators say Joseph Cook, 40, is a convicted felon.
He was charged with murder and aggravated assault.
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