Police Revisiting Unsolved 2017 South Rome Shooting Death

Rome police are revisiting an investigation of the June 14, 2017, shooting death of James Edward Parks.

The incident took place around 9:34 p.m. on a Wednesday. Initial reports indicated that words and gunfire were exchanged by at least two parties and when police arrived on the scene they found Parks with a gunshot wound to the head in the roadway on Grover Street.

“It appears that there were at least two shootings (in that incident), and Parks was one of them,” said Rome Police Department Capt. Pete Sailors. “But there were multiple people on the scene and we know people saw what happened.”

A second shooting victim from that incident was found lying in the 100 block of Broad Street later that day. Police said a passerby had been taking him to the hospital but then got involved in a minor wreck on Broad Street.

Police have ruled out the involvement of a red Dodge Durango in the incident, Sailors said. While it was struck by gunfire, the vehicle was not involved in the shooting.

There were a lot of people around at the time, he said, but witnesses haven’t come forward with much information. At the time, witnesses said the shooters who engaged with Parks came from out of town but no one identified the shooters.

“It’s doubtful that the two possible out-of-town shooters were unknown,” Sailors said. “There were a lot of people on the scene, so we’re sure people know their names.”

It’s not always clear why people don’t come forward with information, Sailors said, but it’s often fear about being involved or fear of possible retribution.

Police have had a few suspects but haven’t been able to amass enough evidence to charge them, or rule them out.

At the time of his death, Parks was 31 and lived with his girlfriend not far from the scene of the shooting.

Several pieces of evidence were collected at the scene, according to Rome police. A gun, shell casings, blood and DNA were among the items sent for analysis at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab. So far, police haven’t gotten any hits on the evidence but RPD Capt. Rusty Blair said it can be a waiting game.

As new evidence is entered into crime databases, there’s always a chance of getting a match and that’s what police are hoping for, Blair said.

Anyone with information about Parks’ shooting is asked to call the Rome Police Department at 706-238-5111 or message the RPD Facebook page at Facebook.com/RomePD/.