Two arrested for shooting home of Georgia Secretary of State's spokesman as couple slept inside, third suspect at large

A Georgia elections official’s spokesman and his fiancée were asleep inside their Atlanta home when around 30 bullets tore through the property in a terrifying overnight shootout.

Robert Sinners, communications director for Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and his fiancée, CBS News Atlanta reporter Madeline Montgomery, were awakened shortly after midnight Thursday by the sound of gunfire outside their southwest Atlanta home. Police identified the suspects as Gregory O'Neal Vaughn, 26, and Jermaine Darcel Howard, 29. Both men were arrested following the brief foot chase and are facing multiple pending charges in connection with the shooting. Investigators are also examining surveillance footage indicating a possible third suspect, who remains at large.

Bullets struck the couple’s living room, bedroom and exterior windows, with damage stretching from the front of the house through to the kitchen. Sinners told WJCL the home was struck by roughly 30 rounds. “We’re still confused why 30 shots hit our house last night,” he said. “Scariest thing we’ve ever had happen to us.” “I’m used to covering these crimes, not living in them,” his fiancee added. “Literally everywhere we look, we find a new bullet hole." 

No people or animals were injured in the shooting. Atlanta police said witnesses reported seeing two men shooting at each other before fleeing the scene. Officers, assisted by a neighbour who spotted the suspects, arrested two men following a brief chase. Sinners said the possibility of political violence was nevertheless a sobering one given his position. 

“The fact that political violence has to be considered is a sobering reminder of where we are,” he said. “We have no indication that’s what occurred, but we’ll see how the investigation unfolds.” Sinners said several people had told him that a drug dealer previously lived at the property, raising the possibility that the gunmen may have been targeting someone else. “Maybe these guys didn’t get the memo,” he said.

The shooting comes against a backdrop of threats against Raffensperger, his family and members of his staff after they rejected claims that Donald Trump won Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Sinners himself was previously involved in Trump campaign politics and once served as a notary on a lawsuit seeking to decertify Georgia’s 2020 election. “Acts of violence have no place in our society,” Sinners said. “I think it’s imperative that anyone in leadership takes the temperature down.”