Police in Georgia’s Cobb County said Tuesday that a pro golfer who was shot dead at a country club over the weekend was not a target in the shooting and was likely killed because he “witnessed an active crime taking place.”
Gene Siller was among three men found shot to death Saturday afternoon on the tenth hole of the Pinetree Country Club golf course in Kennesaw. He was director of golf at the country club and a member of the PGA Tour. Siller had confronted a man who drove a white Ram 3500 pickup onto the green when he was shot, witnesses at the country club told WBS-TV.
Cobb County police said Sunday evening that two bodies were found in the back of the pickup, including a man identified as Paul Pierson, the owner of the truck. Police also told Fox 5 the suspect was still on the run and considered armed and dangerous.
Deadly shooting on Cobb County golf course. While police were investigating the shooting death of Pinetree Country Club golf pro Gene Siller, investigators found the bodies of 2 men in bed of pickup. Killer on the run. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/fiHXo3W9CA
— denisedillon (@DillonFox5) July 6, 2021
“Detectives have learned that Mr. Siller happened upon a crime in progress involving the unknown suspect and the two deceased males who were found in the pickup truck,” the Cobb County Police Department said Tuesday, according to WBS-TV. “It does not appear Siller was in any way targeted, but rather was killed because he witnessed an active crime taking place.” (RELATED: 184 Die Over Independence Day Weekend As Violent Crime Continues Its Rise)
Police added that “current information reveals” there is no active threat to the public and the shooting was not a threat to residents who lived in the area.
Police also said the two other victims who were found in the truck, Pierson and an unidentified man, appear to have had no relation to the Pinetree Country Club, according to WBS-TV.
Currently, no arrests have been made and no suspect information in the case has been released, according to CBS 46. Police said they are continuing to follow active leads in the case but it is too early in the investigation to speculate on the motive.
“We are aware that the public has many questions, the most pressing one being why this happened,” the Cobb County Police Department said, according to CBS 46.