Savannah-Chatham police Wednesday captured the final suspect wanted for his involvement in the Nov. 3 shootout at the Coastal Empire Fairgrounds.
Officers arrested 22-year-old Lajuan Jerome Sloman about noon at a house on Savannah’s southside without incident, said Julian Miller, police spokesman.
Sloman, who police have alleged was one of two shooters in the incident, has been charged with eight counts of aggravated assault and a count of lying to police to hinder an investigation for his roll in the about 10:40 p.m. shootout that sent eight people to area hospitals with gunshot wounds.
Chatham County Court records show it’s not the first time Sloman has been arrested in Savannah. In June 2011, he was sentenced under the First Offenders Act to 18 months in prison, more than five years probation and anger management after an arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators have said Sloman and 21-year-old Shawn Hakeem Sibert exchanged fire that evening in an incident that may have been related to the Labor Day slaying of 19-year-old Tiyates Lamont Franklin near River Street. Sibert, who also faces eight counts of aggravated assault, was captured Nov. 27, six days after police issued warrants for his, Sloman's and four other suspects' arrests in the wake of the shooting.
The other suspects were all charged with lying to investigators, Miller said.
Those individuals — 28-year-old Diqwane Dreshawn Butler, 19-year-old Jeffrey Bashon Crawford, 19-year-old Ephraim Rashad German, and 23-year-old Lassale Thacker Jr. — have all been apprehended.