Two men accused of shooting at group on UGA campus, injuring one person

Zachary Thomas Baker (l) Mark Luke Jarrett (r)

By Joe Johnson

A Clarke County grand jury has indicted two men on charges they shot at a group of people on the University of Georgia campus, one of whom was injured.

Zachary Thomas Baker, 27, and Mark Luke Jarrett, 25, were charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and criminal damage to property, according to the indictment filed last month in Superior Court.

According to police reports and court records, the incident happened early the morning of July 22, 2023, when a UGA police officer on patrol heard gunshots in the vicinity of Fulton and South Jackson streets. Upon arrival to the area, the officer reported finding “a disarrayed scene, with people running in different directions,” and with “some taking shelter in landscaping on the side of Fulton, crouching and screaming.”

One of the people, D’ Andre Smyles, had been shot in the knee, and while rendering first aid, the officer heard one of the others in the group say that assault rifles had been fired at them.

Smyles told police that the shooting was precipitated by an encounter with the suspects outside a bar downtown where there was an exchange of words.

Following the shooting, county police stopped the suspects' vehicle on Olympic Drive and they found two AK-47 rifles in the trunk.

The criminal damage charges the suspects were later indicted on were for two vehicles that had been struck by gunfire.

The suspects were later released from custody when they each posted the $25,000 bail that they’d been granted.

At the time of the incident Baker and Jarrett were roommates at 1287 Shoals apartments in Athens.

Baker’s bail was conditional that he live with his mother in Rome.

Records don’t indicate where Jarrett lives currently, but when granted bail, the judge barred him from Athens-Clarke County.

Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on December 17.