Authorities deployed police dogs and drones Thursday as they continued to search for a man suspected in a double homicide at a Forsyth County home.
The suspect, 34-year-old Juan Escalante-Alarcon of Norcross, has been wanted since early February after an alleged home invasion on Tidwell Circle in a neighborhood off Strickland Road. Two men were shot dead in the same home Thursday, and a 17-year-old was injured, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators believe both incidents were targeted.
“We are following up on every lead,” sheriff’s spokesperson Stacie Miller said as the search for Escalante-Alarcon continued. “We are putting his picture out there. We are asking anyone who sees him, do not approach. Please call 911 or call the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.”
Credit: Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
Deputies responded to the Tidwell Circle home around 5 a.m. Thursday after receiving multiple 911 calls from inside the house, Miller said. The two adult victims, identified as 35-year-old Ivan Cordero and his 21-year-old cousin Geovani Cruz, were dead when they arrived.
“They killed my son. I don’t know anything else,” a distraught man identified as Cordero’s father told Channel 2 Action News.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
A 17-year-old was shot in the foot and was taken to a hospital, according to Miller. The teenager is expected to survive.
Deputies had increased patrols around the home after the Feb. 11 home invasion, Miller said. Escalante-Alarcon was wanted on multiple charges, including aggravated assault and cruelty to children, in connection with that incident, and federal marshals were actively searching for him before the Thursday morning shooting.
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
“He is not a very nice man. He is a very bad person, and we need to get him off the streets,” Miller told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the shooting scene. “He has killed two people this morning.”
Escalante-Alarcon is considered armed and dangerous, according to the sheriff’s office. Anyone with information is asked to dial 911 or call the agency at 770-781-3087.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
