COBB COUNTY, Georgia — Police in Georgia arrested a man Thursday in connection with the murders of three people at a Cobb County golf course, including golf professional Gene Siller.
Bryan Anthony Rhoden was arrested in Chamblee, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office announced in a tweet.
Update 11:57 p.m. EDT July 8: Bryan Anthony Rhoden, 23, of Atlanta, charged in the deaths of three people at a suburban Atlanta golf course, is an up-and-coming rapper who goes by the name B Rod, WSB-TV reported. The manager listed on his Twitter profile confirms that Rhoden, also known as B Rod, is his client, the television station reported.
According to online booking records, Rhoden is at the Cobb County Jail.
Update 8:13 p.m. EDT July 8: Bryan Anthony Rhoden was charged with three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping, Cobb County Police Chief Tim Cox said in a news conference Thursday evening.
Within hours of the triple murder, Rhoden was arrested by the Chamblee Police Department on unrelated charges, including DUI, driving a vehicle without insurance and false identification, WSB-TV reported. He posted bail on Tuesday.
Cox did not provide any specifics about Rhoden’s arrest or how he was targeted as the suspect.
Original report: Rhoden is being held in connection with the death of Siller, 46, the pro at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw. Siller was found dead by authorities on Saturday afternoon near the 10th hole of the golf course, and police said he suffered an apparent gunshot wound to his head, according to WSB-TV.
Henry Valdez, 46, and Paul Pierson, 76, were found dead in the bed of a pickup truck parked near the 10th green, the television station reported. Both men were shot to death, The New York Times reported.
Police said Pierson, of Topeka, Kansas, owned the pickup truck, WSB reported. According to a police report, Valdez is from Anaheim, California.
>> Golf pro Gene Siller killed after witnessing ‘crime in progress,’ police say
Authorities believe that Siller had witnessed a “crime in progress,” likely leading to his death.
“Detectives have learned that Mr. Siller happened upon a crime in progress involving the unknown suspect and the two deceased males who were found in the pickup truck,” authorities told WSB on Tuesday. “It does not appear Siller was in any way targeted, but rather (he) was killed because he witnessed an active crime taking place.”
Officials said Siller was working as director of golf at Pinetree Country Club. In a joint statement published Sunday, officials with the Georgia State Golf Association and the Georgia chapters of the Club Management Association of America, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the PGA of America asked people to keep Siller’s family and friends in their thoughts and prayers.
Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling said that although the shooting took place just outside his city’s limits, the community was still “grieving for all of the victims.”
“It’s just tragic,” Easterling told the Times.
Cobb County authorities are expected to provide an update later Thursday at a news conference.