Two men were arrested following a shooting incident at a Georgia apartment complex, although it’s unclear whether the driver of the vehicle was also arrested. Believed to be members of a gang, they were recently indicted on criminal charges. If convicted, both men could face steep consequences.
Police claim that the two men are part of a gang called Never Broke Again, or NBA. They are suspected of firing off dozens of times at another vehicle, although the car was only struck 11 times. There were four people in the car at the time of the alleged shooting, and none were injured.
The vehicle that the defendants were in was driven by a woman, although she initially claimed that she was simply heading out to a club with some of her friends who she identified as female. The indictment against the men addressed this claim, and instead alleges that there were no women in the vehicle other than the driver. This was the second indictment this year for one of the men.
The men are accused of having violated the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act and are also facing criminal charges of aggravated assault. As there were apparently four men that were in the vehicle that was fired upon, this indictment includes four counts of the assault charges. However, an indictment is no indication of guilt, and the burden of proving the accusations never lies with the defendant. Instead, the prosecution must be able to prove that the evidence supports the charges, and that they are true beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, both of these defendants must be treated as innocent, and their rights must be upheld and protected at all stages of the criminal proceedings.
Source: onlineathens.com, “Athens man indicted under state gang act for shooting at car“, Joe Johnson, Dec. 4, 2014
