A U.S. Department of Justice ATF Explosives and Fire Investigation truck idles on the shoulder of Garrison Road near Cornelia Monday afternoon. (Photo/Rob Moore)
CORNELIA – Some three dozen federal, state and local law enforcement officers descended on a residence in rural Habersham County Wednesday afternoon serving a search warrant.
“The ATF, GBI, and FBI are all involved in the search for possible explosive devices,” Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell confirmed.
The home is located at 1718 Garrison Road, Cornelia.
The Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression (NCIS) Team also is on scene, along with personnel from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Uniform Patrol Division.
“They started surveillance early this morning, but they didn’t do the search warrant until after lunch,” Terrell said.
Special Agent Richard Coes, public information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, confirmed there is an open ATF case in Habersham County, but declined to discuss specifics.
“It’s an ATF warrant that was written, but it’s still under investigation so there’s nothing we can really talk about regarding the case right now,” Coes said.
A large U.S. Department of Justice ATF Explosives and Fire Investigation National Response Team truck idled on the shoulder of Garrison Road, while a Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb truck was at the residence, some one-half mile away down a dead-end dirt driveway.
