ATLANTA — Survivors who were inside a Cobb County home at a game night last weekend while it was under attack by a man firing a barrage of gunfire at them say they are grateful they weren’t killed, angry police didn’t arrest the gunman right away, and relieved that after the suspect ran away he didn’t kill the police officer in Tennessee who was trying to arrest him.
“His intent was to kill,” said one of the survivors, Brandon Lee, Thursday. “His intent was to execute us.... He wasn’t here to try to scare us, or try to hurt a person, he was there to kill us and execute us.”
The 11 survivors are still re-living the life-threatening horror of this past Saturday night, knowing they could have been victims of a mass murder inside the Cobb County home of their friend, Justin Blair.
“The fact that nobody was killed was a blessing.” Blair said. “It’s a miracle.”
Blair and Lee and six of the other survivors gathered in their attorney’s office in Atlanta — they may sue the suspect to try to collect damages — to describe that night and to express their concerns that Cobb County police “dropped the ball” and let the suspect slip through their fingers in the hours after the gunfire.
The survivors said when Cobb police arrived at Blair’s home, they immediately told the officers that it was Blair's neighbor, Cody Dimmett, who had stood outside and fired dozens of rounds into Blair's home as everyone inside tried to stay out of the line of fire.
Dimmett's motive is still unknown.
After the shooting, the suspect “was there (in his home) all day Sunday until at least early Monday morning,” Blair said. "If they would have had someone surveilling the neighborhood, they would have seen him when he came back home."
Dimmett was captured later in Arkansas after, police say, he shot and wounded a police officer in Tennessee who was trying to arrest him.
Steve Boyd was wounded inside Blair’s house.
“You know, I'm glad nobody else got killed. I got shot in the chest, and one inch over would have been my heart," he said.
Boyd and the other survivors said there is no doubt in their minds that Cobb County police could have arrested Dimmett at his home across the street from Blair’s home, before, investigators say, he fled and put other lives at risk.
“I feel like the shooter should have never been able to get away,” Boyd said. “The Cobb police department definitely dropped the ball.”
“If Cobb County would have done the due diligence in the beginning of this,” Lee said, “They could have apprehended this man before all this took place.”
“What upsets me is the fact that he was able to come back the same night,” Blair said. “And then (police) knocked on (Dimmett’s) door. They had him that night. And nobody went in to look for Dimmett in his own house."
They said they saw no sense of urgency among the officers who showed up at Blair’s house in response to their 911 calls.
“They kind of came in kind of real nonchalant, no guns drawn,” Blair said. “I didn’t understand, I’m like, ‘Y’all don’t know if this guy is still here but y’all got your hands in your pockets, y’all are just relaxed.’”
“I feel like as if we were being treated as the perpetrators,” Boyd said. “’At this point, there’s an active shooter out... Go look for him.’”
And Boyd said during the gunfire they were all dodging both bullets and buckshot. He asked police if they ever looked for possibly a second shooter.
“I've never seen anyone shoot an AR-15 and a 12-guage shotgun at the same time unless they was Rambo,” Boyd said. “The kickback, you cannot shoot a 12-guage shotgun and an AR-15 at the same time.”
A Cobb County police spokesman told 11Alive Thursday, this is the first time officers have heard of any of this, and that they are willing to listen to the survivors' concerns and address them.
Everyone who escaped with their lives wants accountability, now.
“He was a dangerous man,” Blair said. “Very dangerous.”
“I’m just so grateful that we are all still alive to even be talking about this today," Lee said.
Here is the initial response to 11Alive from a Cobb County Police spokesman:
“We’re unaware of any such concerns being brought to us from any of the victims in this incident. With our responding officers wearing body worn cameras and all our 911 calls automatically recorded, we would be able to address any concerns they might have and research on their behalf. Outside any information they might have for investigators, I am available to speak with them regarding policies and any other operational procedures. We likely won’t publicly respond with any information about this case, but I am available to speak with any of the victims on overall operations and policies. The investigation itself remains open and active.”