Ga. Sheriff's Deputies Slain in Ambush Identified

MARIETTA, GA—Two Cobb County sheriff's deputies were killed in the line of duty Thursday night while serving an arrest warrant at a home in a quiet west Cobb neighborhood.

Deputies Jonathan Randall Koleski, 42, and Marshall Samuel Ervin Jr., 38, were identified by Sheriff Craig Owens at a press conference Friday afternoon.

RELATED: 2 Ga. Sheriff's Deputies Killed in Ambush Serving Warrant

The sheriff's office announced the death of the deputies around 9 p.m. Thursday. The shooting occurred at 2474 Hampton Glen Court in the Hampton Glen subdivision near the intersection of John Ward and Irwin roads, close to Cheatham Hill Elementary School.

Koleski and Ervin's killings were the first line-of-duty deaths of a Cobb sheriff's deputy since 1990, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

At a news conference around 12:30 a.m. Friday, Owens said it was "a night of heartache for two families," describing the men as "young, bright deputies." Koleski had been with the sheriff's office since 2007, Ervin joined the office in 2012.

Christopher Cook, 32, and Christopher Golden, 30, who both lived at the house, were arrested after a massive police presence descended on the subdivision.

Golden is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. Cook faces three felony theft charges and three misdemeanor theft charges.

At a first appearance hearing Friday afternoon, Cook and Golden appeared before Judge Jennifer Inmon, who denied them bond. Both men, clad in orange jail uniforms, nodded yes that they understood their rights and the charges against them and shook their heads to indicate they had no questions.

Seated in the basement courtroom behind the suspects as they appeared were Sheriff Owens, Chief Deputy Rhonda Anderson, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Mike Register, Marietta Police Chief Marty Ferrell, Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat, and Gwinnett Sheriff Keybo Taylor.

According to Owens, the deputies had been serving a warrant for Cook's arrest for failure to appear related to a theft by deception case.

Cobb police will lead the investigation. Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said the deputies were attempting to arrest Cook in the driveway when Golden emerged from the house with a gun and fired on them.

Cook was previously named in warrants related to a theft by deception case. The men were accused in a February police report of retrieving jewelry for Golden's uncle and then refusing to return it to him. Cook is accused of pawning some of the items for cash.

The deputies

VanHoozer declined to answer some specific questions about the killings at a press conference Friday afternoon, but said the two deputies arrived at the home around 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

"The deputies attempted to take Mr. Christopher Cook into custody at the address, in the driveway," VanHoozer said. "While they were doing that, they were confronted by an individual inside the home with a weapon. The deputies gave that individual loud, clear verbal commands to drop the weapon. He did not do that. At that point, there was an exchange of gunfire between the subject and the deputies."

The incident was first described by Owens as an "ambush," but both he and VanHoozer said they were still learning precisely what happened.

Initial reports suggested the suspects were not taken into custody until around midnight, but VanHoozer said it was a "brief" standoff between law enforcement and the barricaded suspects (he did not have a precise time of their arrest available).

The home appeared heavily damaged Friday morning, and VanHoozer said that "damage occurred as a result of the safety considerations for the remaining officers in the field." He did not specify what actions police took to cause that damage, but said there was no further shooting after the initial exchange of gunfire.

Koleski is survived by his wife, while Ervin is survived by a wife and two children.

"They were outstanding men. Men of character and integrity. Family men, loved by their families and their kids. That's what the wives explained to us," Owens said.

The warrants

Three warrants for theft were issued for Cook this year — one in April and two in June.

According to the warrants, in February, Cook sold several items of stolen jewelry to pawn shops in Cobb.

According to a Cobb County police report, Brian Golden, a 54-year-old east Cobb resident, told police that his nephew, Christopher Golden, along with Cook, had stolen jewelry from him worth approximately $18,000.

Brian Golden had been in the hospital due to a health condition, he told police, and had asked Christopher Golden and Cook to pick up jewelry and guns from his home and hold it for safekeeping.

Upon being discharged at the end of January, Brian Golden asked for the items back. Cook gave the guns back, but charged Brian Golden $100 for them, according to the report. The jewelry was never returned, and Brian Golden's messages went unanswered.

Brian Golden was worried that the jewelry had been pawned for cash. He contacted police "because he has given them enough chances on returning his items," an officer wrote in the report.

The alleged theft of Brian Golden's jewelry was not Cook's first run-in with the law.

In 2015, Cook was sentenced by Judge George Kreeger to 10 years probation after being found guilty of three counts of burglary, two counts of theft by taking and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, court records show.

The 2015 case stemmed from May 2012 charges. In an arrest warrant from the time, Cook was accused by Cobb police of breaking into the house on Hampton Glen Court, stealing an iPad, a television, a computer, a sound system and $40 cash. The home is owned by Stacy Cook, according to Cobb property records.

That same month, Cook and an accomplice broke into two churches — one in Smyrna and one in Mableton — and stole a gun, a guitar, a U.S. Marine Corps sword, model ships, food and an air compressor, police alleged at the time.

When police arrested Cook in May 2012 at his Mableton home, they found approximately 14 grams of cocaine wrapped in seven bags, according to a warrant.

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