A 17-year-old Alabama resident has been arrested by Chattooga County authorities in connection with a drive-by shooting that investigators say occurred earlier this month along Highway 48 near the Georgia-Alabama state line. Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader announced that Ricky Paul Hawkins was taken into custody and charged with drive-by shooting, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
The arrest stems from an investigation into a shooting that allegedly began with an encounter at RJ’s Mountain Top Store. According to investigators, Hawkins and several others approached another customer and asked him to purchase alcohol for them. After the customer declined, a verbal dispute reportedly followed.
Authorities allege that as the customer drove away from the store, the suspects passed his vehicle and a shot was fired from their vehicle, striking the front driver’s-side fender of the victim’s pickup truck…