Man accused of shooting, robbing UGA student arrested

Police have arrested the gunman suspected of shooting and robbing a University of Georgia lacrosse player and robbing another UGA student.

The Athens-Clarke County police said a tip led officers to a Gwinnett County address at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday. With the assistance of the GBI, FBI Safe Streets and the Gwinnett County Police Department, they arrested 20-year-old Zarren Garner and charged him with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.

The shooting happened shortly before 7:15 a.m. on Mondayat a bus stop in the 2100 block of South Milledge Avenue. Police said 22-year-old Tate Prezzano was sitting on a bench waiting for a bus when he was shot.

While officers were on the way, they received a report of a second unidentified UGA student robbed at gunpoint at an apartment complex just a short distance away from the bus stop. After an investigation, officers say the two crimes were connected.

Speaking at a press conference, officials with the ACCPD said that law enforcement had “prior encounters with this individual, so he became the prime suspect.” A composite sketch released on Monday was also “nearly identical” to Garner, police said.

Medics rushed Prezzano to nearby a hospital with life-threatening injuries. 

Dobbin Prezzano, Tate’s father, said his son was “doing well, getting rest” and that they were looking “foward to him making some progress.”

“He’s been giving a thumbs up,” Dobbin Prezzano said at Tuesday’s press conference.

He said he was thankful for the outpouring of support from Georgia and beyond, saying that the family was “blessed” that Tate was recovering based on what he went through.

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