‘Shooting rampage’ suspect in Florida’s Emerald Coast has ties to Warner Robins and Macon

A young man from Houston County who was shot and wounded after allegedly opening fire on the police and others last week during a “shooting rampage” in a beachside resort community along Florida’s Emerald Coast has been jailed on attempted murder charges.

Gunner Harding Cole had been in a hospital since the Sept. 21 incident that left him wounded in the arm after he opened fire on Walton County sheriff’s deputies and they shot back, authorities there said.

It remained unclear what may have prompted the violent episode, which left one apparent bystander shot and wounded.

Officials have said that Cole’s alleged actions in Florida may be connected to a death there, although further details were not divulged.

Cole, who turned 21 last month, faces charges that include shooting into an occupied vehicle, aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted murder. He was scheduled to go before a Florida judge Thursday for a first-appearance hearing.

Cole, on Wednesday, was described in a press release from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office as “the person behind a shooting rampage” on Sept. 21 in the Sandestin resort community.

Authorities have not said what may have led Cole to that area. He was thought to have past ties to Kentucky and Tennessee. A Facebook page that appears to belong to him mentions that he had attended Houston County High School and includes an introductory quote that reads, in part, “Life is a game of poker and God’s the dealer.”

Cole has no known serious criminal record. He was cited for speeding in Houston County in 2020 and fined $168.

In recent years, Cole has lived in southwestern Warner Robins in a neighborhood near Houston Lake Road and Georgia Highway 96. He has also previously lived on Forest Hill Road in north Macon, according to online records.

In the wake of the Florida shooting episode, he was treated at a hospital there and on Wednesday evening was booked into the Walton County jail.

Active shooter calls

Law enforcement officials have said in statements that the shooting incident began when cops “responded to the sound of gunfire in the Sandestin area” the night of Sept. 21.

The area is near Miramar Beach along U.S. Highway 98, the coastal route that traces northern Florida’s vacationer-haven Gulf Coast from roughly Apalachicola to Panama City and over to Pensacola.

According to the police account of what transpired the night of the gunfire, numerous emergency calls “flooded” the county’s 911 center. There were reports of “an active shooter” in a condo-dotted golfing village near Emerald Coast Parkway, less than a mile north of the Gulf of Mexico.

Sheriff’s deputies soon “located the suspect,” officials said, adding that Cole, the suspect, then “opened fire.”

“A deputy returned fire and was able to neutralize Cole before any more harm came to the public,” officials said.

An unidentified male who had been nearby later told investigators that he realized he had been shot in the back after seeing the alleged gunman “standing in the road and shooting at cars,” a statement noted.

Sheriff’s officials stated that they were “still actively investigating a death that we believe is linked to this incident and identifying others who were targeted in Cole’s random act of violence that will undoubtedly result in additional charges.”

Body cam footage

Video of Cole being apprehended shows his encounter with the cops as it unfolds.

Dash-camera and body-camera footage from sheriff’s deputies begins as officers wheel into a tree-lined lane near a golf course and stop in the road after spotting Cole.

Seconds later come blasts of gunfire.

“Oh, s---!” a deputy yells. “Shots fired! Shots fired!”

Amid a trio of ensuing gunshots, a deputy can be heard telling someone to “get on the ground!” as the gunman sprints into some woods.

“I got him! I hit him!” a deputy says.

“He’s on the ground. In the ditch,” one of the cops says as he and another officer, guns drawn, march toward the alleged gunman.

Cole, shot in the arm, is by then lying face down on the grassy roadside maybe 40 feet away. None of the cops was hurt.

The two deputies, joined by others, converged on the wounded suspect.

They handcuffed him and ended the threat in less than three minutes of arriving on the scene.

In an email Thursday about what may have triggered the outburst, Walton sheriff’s spokesperson Corey Dobridnia said Cole “did not know any of the victims and was shooting at random. So, I’m not sure there will ever be a ‘why’ that brings peace to families affected.”