Teen charged in Village Green shooting

A Macon teenager has been charged in connection with the Tuesday violence in the Village Green neighborhood that left three teenagers shot, one of them fatally.

Shawn Kitchens, 18, of a Forest Hill Road address, is charged with attempted murder in the shooting at 2696 Village Green Lane, located in southwest Macon. Kitchens was taken into custody Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Task Force.

The arrest was a result of a tip to Macon Regional CrimeStoppers, said Robert Martin, the executive director.

Kitchens also is charged with participation in gang activity and underage possession of a weapon, according to the task force.

He has been arrested on two previous occasions in Bibb County. One of the arrests was for gun-related charges, said Jami Gaudet, a Macon police spokeswoman.

During the shooting spree, Rodrion Gary, 17, of 2732 Village Green Lane, was killed. Tavish Faulks, 18, of Bloomfield Road, was shot in the head and wrist.

Hospital officials wouldn’t release Faulks’ condition Thursday, Gaudet said. He was listed in critical condition Wednesday.

Shamarques Watkins, 16, of Brentwood Avenue, was shot in the foot. He was treated and released from the hospital.

Hours after the shooting, about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters were called to the house.

Macon-Bibb County fire investigator Ben Gleaton has said firefighters are investigating the fire “as a malicious fire” but have not classified it as an arson.

Authorities think the house was burglarized before the fire, he said. Police have said it’s “highly probable” that the shooting and the fire are related. Gleaton said he still was interviewing witnesses Thursday.

“We’re still putting it all together,” he said.

Police have said the shooting doesn’t appear to be drug-related.

Witnesses who lived in the burned house told police that Watkins was in their yard with other youths when Faulks and Gary arrived with pistols in their waistbands, according to a police report. Faulks began shooting about 7:20 p.m. after a resident of the house told the teens to leave.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 751-7500, Macon Regional CrimeStoppers at (877) 68-CRIME or Georgia’s Arson Hotline at (800) 282-5804.