Bartow County

Vandals spray paint 'I will kill' and 'KKK' inside home for sale

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — A potential buyer went to view a house in Cartersville and found "KKK" spray-painted throughout the house.

Bartow County deputies told Channel 2's Audrey Washington they have vowed to find the people responsible and that this kind of racial vandalism came as a shock to authorities, as well as to the owner of the home.

Video taken by Channel 2 Action News shows the words "I will kill" and "KKK" spray-painted in black on the walls and on the carpet.

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Washington spoke with Willie Coombs, the man who shot this video with his cellphone.

Coombs, who heads the Bartow County chapter of the NAACP, said he was disappointed and frankly upset. He immediately alerted authorities.

“Shocked. 2017. 21st century and were still dealing with this kind of nonsense,” he said.

Sgt. Jonathan Rogers, with the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators think a group of neighborhood children may be responsible.

“We do believe that this was not targeted at an individual since the house was for sale. No one comes there regularly,” he said.

It is unclear why the vandals chose the house.

Coombs told Washington the home is in a racially diverse neighborhood, but the owner said he recently showed the home to a Hispanic family and believes that may have sparked the vandalism.

“I think that’s why we’re dealing with this now, because of that family, and, unfortunately the contract was lost because of this incident,” he explained.