Lauren Hawes told The Associated Press yesterday that she, her mother Angela Dent and her 1-year-old daughter hid in a neighbor's house barely escaping with their lives while her father, Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, went on a bloody rampage and killed five people, including her grandmother and cousin.
"He made threats before, but we never thought it would be at this capacity," Lauren Hawes said. "He's been kind of a ticking time bomb if you want to put in a few words."
The body of shooting suspect Hawes was recovered Saturday by authorities in his home in Appling.
Lauren Hawes, 26, confirmed that the bloodshed was connected to a domestic dispute between her parents: her mother had walked out on her father just a week ago.
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Angela Dent had left before but this time, she took her possessions with her to prevent Hawes from destroying them as he had done in the past.
"He's done things that were questionable in the past, but never to this extent. This is very surprising. We thought he could possibly hurt himself, but not others," said Lauren Hawes.
The rampage began Friday evening, when sheriff deputies responded to a home at about 8 p.M. And found three victims. Authorities then were called to a second home nearby, where two other victims were found.
"We believe the two shootings were related based on witness accounts," Shedd said. When authorities reached Hawes' house and entered, they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. They also found evidence that he attempted to set the house on fire.
"We believe some of the victims were related to the suspect's wife," Shedd said.