August 16th, 2022 – 3:30 PM

Cedartown Police Department –

August 17th GBI update:

The Cedartown Police Department and the GBI arrested Randy McClarity, Sr., age 57, of Cedartown, and charged him with murder, malice murder, and three counts of aggravated assault on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.

The GBI was requested by the Cedartown Police Department to assist with a homicide and shooting investigation. Preliminary information indicates that on August 16, 2022, at 3:04 a.m., Cedartown Police Department officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting on East Gibson Street, Cedartown, GA. Officers found a woman, later identified as Summer Bryant, age 26, deceased from gunshots wounds. Officers also located Bryant’s mother, Julie Thigpen, age 50, with a gunshot wound to the face. Thigpen was treated and released from a local hospital. Bryant and Thigpen were living in the home with McClarity.

Previously reported:

A young woman died and her mother was injured after gunfire erupted on East Gibson Street in the early morning hours of August 16th.

A third victim was present but fled the area unharmed.

Cedartown Police say at 3:04 a.m., a call was taken by Polk 9-11 in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found a female in her late 20s deceased at the scene. Another female, the deceased’s mother, was also at the scene with a gunshot injury to her face.

During the initial investigation, police learned that a third individual, a male, was present during the shooting but escaped unharmed.

After investigation, the suspect was identified as Randy McClarity Sr., 57, of Cedartown. Less than an hour after the incident, an officer with the Polk County Police Department located McClarity in the Collard Valley Road area. He is currently booked in the Polk County Jail on charges of murder, malice murder, and three counts of aggravated assault.

According to reports, the daughter, mother, and male victim were walking along East Gibson Street at 3 a.m. when the suspect approached the trio in his vehicle and began to shoot.

Police say that the daughter was immediately killed by gunfire. The mother sustained a non-life threatening gunshot to her face and is receiving treatment at a Rome area hospital. Law enforcement confirmed that the victims and suspect were acquainted.

Both the Cedartown Police Department and the GBI are actively working on the case.

More information will be released as deemed appropriate by the GBI’s Office of Public Affairs.