Man sought in drive-by shootings

Police are looking for an Augusta man who is wanted in connection with a recent drive-by shooting at an Augusta apartment complex.

Warrants for John Fernando Sheppard, 20, have been issued by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, according to Investigator Tess Alexander-Brunson.

Mr. Sheppard is charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

On May 2, police were called to the 1400 block of Gilbert Manor after learning that two men had been shot.

Marcus Tyler was shot in his back and Dameion Roberts was shot in his left leg, police said.

Mr. Sheppard also responds to the nickname "Lil John."

Anyone with information that might lead to Mr. Sheppard's arrest should call the Richmond County Sheriff's Office at (706) 821-1080.

Members of the Richmond County Bomb Squad responded to the discovery of a suspicious package found at a west Augusta business park Tuesday.

Investigators later deemed that the package was not a bomb, said Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. William Steptoe.

Augusta 911 officials received the call at about 1:23 p.m.

"Had it been a bomb, I would have been contacted," said Capt. P.A. Williams, who heads the sheriff's Bomb Squad.

Sgt. Steptoe said employees at the business expected a package postmarked from Canada, but instead received a package of pills from the Philippines.

By 5 p.m., the property, which is owned by local businessman Tim Shelnut, was cleared and secured by police.

The man accused of shooting 22-year-old Mitchieano Carmichael in December was sent back to the Augusta area Tuesday, Richmond County jail records show.

Cornelius Wright, 28, had been held in New York since his arrest in the town of Far Rockaway on Dec. 29.

He is charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Mr. Carmichael was shot outside Mom and Pop's convenience store at 2025 Broad Street.

Attorneys for William Fleming and his former law firm, The Fleming Firm, argued in federal court Tuesday that certain files requested by the plaintiff, Wendell A. Jenifer, should be withheld because they are privileged to the individual client.

At issue are 22 malpractice claims filed with the Fleming Firm's insurance company that the plaintiff complained were being withheld by the Fleming attorneys.

Mr. Jenifer filed a lawsuit against the Fleming attorneys last year.

He alleges that they were negligent and cost him the chance of receiving compensation for an injury in 1999.

An Augusta man was arrested Monday on arson charges for setting fire to a woman's personal belongings in her yard, a Richmond County sheriff's report said.

Joseph Alton Frye, 43, of 912 Bennock Mill Road, is charged with third-degree arson.

The report said a witness saw Mr. Frye set fire to several of the victim's school books, a rug and other items valued at about $2,000.

He had also threatened to burn down the home where both he and the victim live.

A man was stabbed in the armpit after an incident at a convenience store on Barton Chapel Road on Monday, a Richmond County sheriff's report said.

The victim said the girlfriend of someone called "E-man," whom he had fought with in the past, approached him in the BC Convenience store and scratched him above the eye.

The victim said he pushed the woman and then "E-man" stabbed him in the left armpit.

The man was taken to Trinity Hospital of Augusta, where he received 15 stitches, the report said.

The Beech Island Historical Society will host a ground-breaking ceremony for its agricultural museum 2 p.m. Friday at their office, 144 Old Jackson Highway.

During the ceremony, the society will be presented with a $200,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The grant will be used to renovate a cottonseed barn into the museum, which will house agricultural artifacts the society has collected for the past 17 years.

A memorial service will be held in Evans at 12:30 p.m. Thursday for one of three men killed last week in a North Carolina plane crash.

The service for Rodney Connell, whose mother, Sara Connell, lives in Martinez, will take place at The Sanctuary Church on Cox Road, said Katrina Burton, an Evans resident and cousin of Mr. Connell.

The crash also took the lives of Jefferson I. Davis III, a close friend of Gov. Sonny Perdue, and James V. Hilburn.

Mr. Connell was a retired law enforcement officer from Cobb County and had been an instructor for a law enforcement training academy in north Georgia, Mrs. Burton said.

No funeral arrangements had been made.

Postal letter carriers will be collecting food Saturday to replenish local food banks and fight hunger - particularly among children.

Those wishing to participate are asked to leave a sturdy bag containing nonperishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal next to the mailbox before the time of regular mail delivery, according to a news release.

Stamp Out Hunger! is the nation's largest, single-day food drive and is run by the National Association of Letter Carriers. For more information, go to www.nalc.org/commun/foodrive/index.html.

- From staff reports