A shooting in the Country Walk subdivision off Salem Road Sunday evening that sent one man to the hospital and another man to jail appears to be in retaliation for another shooting involving the same two people six years ago in the same neighborhood.

On Sunday, just after 7 p.m., Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call of a person shot at 2636 Fieldstone View Lane. Deputies found the victim laying on the ground, shot multiple times and losing consciousness.

The victim, identified as Sandino Aikens, 25, of Covington, is believed to have been shot at least four times. Deputies and other first responders performed CPR on Aikens, trying to stabilize him enough to be flown by air ambulance to an Atlanta hospital. However, Aikens was unable to be stabilized enough to be flown, so he was ground transported by ambulance to Grady Hospital. 

Witnesses gave a description of the shooter and told deputies that he walked away from the scene, last seen one street behind Fieldstone View Lane on Country Trace.

Shortly after investigators arrived and began processing the shooting scene and speaking with several witnesses, investigators went to 2613 Country Trace to contact the suspect.

The suspect was arrested just after 7:30 p.m. and the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting was also recovered.

The suspect has been identified as Rashad Thompson, 19, of Country Trace in Conyers, just one street over from the site of the shooting. He is currently in the Rockdale County jail, facing a charge of Aggravated Assault. Other charges are possible.

The shooting is still under investigation, but it appears that the shooting was in retaliation for a previous shooting.  On December 5, 2008, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office investigated a shooting in the same subdivision in which Rashad Thompson, then 15 years old, was shot in the chest by Sandino Aikens, then 21 years old.  Aikens was arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault in that 2008 case. He pled guilty in June 2010 and was sentenced to five years in prison, with credit for time already served in the Rockdale County Jail. However, he was paroled from state prison in June 2011.  \Early indications are that Thompson was upset that Aikens was already out of prison and shot him in retaliation for being shot by Aikens in 2008. 

Sheriff Eric Levett said of the case, “This is another case of a violent criminal being quickly apprehended by the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies and investigators had the suspect in custody just 30 minutes after the shooting. They should be commended for their actions.”