Authorities continue to seek witnesses in the shooting death of a Marietta teenager at a house party earlier this month in Cherokee County.
Sheriff’s office investigators said they have conducted around 80 interviews while following up on leads in the Oct. 17 shooting that left 14-year-old Landon Andrews dead and 19-year-old Jaden Simmons of Mableton shot in the hand and elbow. But finding witnesses has been difficult, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker.
“One of the challenges investigators have faced is locating and interviewing witnesses who fled the scene of the shooting prior to deputies arriving at the incident location,” Baker said.
Cherokee authorities are seeking two persons of interest who were at the party, according to a news release. They are not suspects, Baker said, but may have information that would assist in the investigation.
No suspects have been identified in the shooting, which investigators believe was the result of an earlier fight between teens in Kennesaw.
Shortly before 1:30 that morning, deputies were called to a large house party on Victoria Road. When they arrived, multiple cars were already fleeing the area and people were running from the house, investigators said.
Deputies found Andrews in the back of an SUV with a gunshot wound to the torso, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Investigators are asking parents whose children were at the party to contact the sheriff’s office at 678-493-4200 or 678-493-4080.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
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