MEDIA RELEASE
Cedartown, Ga. – June 2, 2017: Police are releasing additional information in what they are calling a “gang-related drug deal gone bad.”
Officials have obtained an aggravated assault arrest warrant for Derian Bona Ventura-Flores of a Lawrenceville, Georgia, address.
The incident took place Tuesday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Polk School Central District Office on South College Street.
Upon arriving at the scene, police found a 17-year-old white male with a gunshot wound lying on the lawn in front of school district office.
The teen was transported to Floyd Medical Center where he underwent surgery and is recovering.
Officials are not releasing his name.
“We are not releasing the name of the victim because as of this point in time, he has not been charged with a crime, he is also a juvenile and is currently in DFCS custody,” said Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome.
Chief Newsome did say that the 17-year-old and Ventura-Flores had engaged in some form of cellular communication prior to the incident.
“They did have communication that brought them both to the location on South College Street,” Newsome said.
“The incident had nothing to do with Polk School District, it just happened to be the location.”
As to the label of a gang-related drug deal gone bad, Newsome said two factors contributed to that conclusion: the cell phone communication between the alleged perpetrator and the shooting victim, as well as $2,300 in fake currency located near the victim at the time officers responded.