By Joe Johnson
An Athens gang member has been arrested in connection with an exchange of gunfire between occupants of two vehicles on heavily-travelled Lexington Road in broad daylight earlier this year.
Jeremiah Rolling, 18, of Oak Hill Drive was arrested Monday on a warrant charging him with aggravated assault for the March 31 shootout between occupants of a Chevrolet Blazer and a Honda Accord as they drove away from the Marathon gas station near Winterville Road, according to Athens-Clarke County police.
An officer who was on patrol in the area at about 1:30 p.m. reportedly heard between 15-20 gunshots, but police said no one was injured.
Rolling is currently under indictment for robbery and violating the state Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act for An August 2020 incident in which he and another member of the 1831 Piru street gang beat and stole money from a male victim, according to the indictment.
According to police, Rolling was in the Blazer, along with 20-year-old Ketravian Tyvon Cole, an Athens hip-hop artist who performed under the name of EBE Montana.
Cole was killed in Barrow County on May 2 in what Sheriff Jud Smith called a gang-related retaliatory shooting for an unspecified event that occurred in Athens.
Cole reportedly was a passenger in a car that was traveling west on Ga. Highway 316 near Jackson Trail Road shortly after midnight when a dark-colored sedan pulled alongside and one or more of its occupants opened fire, killing Cole and wounding the driver, who was a relative of the rapper.
“It was not a random incident and appears the deceased victim was targeted,” Smith said. “We are not getting much cooperation from friends and family but we do have some tips coming in that would suggest this was gang-related,” the sheriff said.
At the time, Athens-Clarke police had a warrant charging Cole with aggravated assault for the Lexington Road shootout.
The driver of the Honda that was involved in the shooting was identified by police as Keivaziay Freddrion Jet Ball, 20, of Simmons Street. He was arrested for aggravated assault in April.