Newnan GA pastor in hospital after being headbutted by trespasser on church property
Coweta County GA December 3 2018
A Coweta County pastor was driving on Henry Road on Wednesday when he saw a man “possibly doing narcotics” near a building his church owned.
A confrontation, headbutt to the eye and a few gunshots later, the pastor is in the hospital and his alleged attacker is on the run from authorities.
Tamarkus Cook, 31, is the pastor at St. Smyrna Baptist Church in Newnan, and he suffered a cut under and above his right eye when the man headbutted him, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office said in an incident report.
Cook told a deputy the church owned the property in the 100 block of Henry Road, and when he tried to confront the trespasser, the report said the man asked, “Who do you think you are? Security?”
Cook responded, “Yes, I am,” and that’s when the man got angry and charged him, the release said.
He headbutted Cook in the eye, prompting Cook to pull out his Tarus .380 handgun and fire two or three rounds in the air to attempt to scare him off, the release said. The deputy found one spent shell casing on the road that matched Cook’s handgun, the report said.
It worked, and the man drove away in a newer-model gray Ford F-150 that possibly had a North Dakota or South Dakota license plate, the pastor said in the report.
The man accused of attacking Cook was approximately 6-foot-3, about 300 pounds and had a large, dark brown beard, the report said.
Cook was taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital after speaking to the deputy, the report said.
An investigation is ongoing.
AJC
