Basil Ghali was re-arrested but this time on a felony count of aggravated assault at 5:00 PM at his home on Lake Tobesofkee where the original shots were fired.. He had formerly been charged with only reckless conduct which is a misdemeanor.
Along with Basil his brother Kinnan Ghali was arrested on a willful obstruction of the law which is a misdemeanor.
The fishermen argued the charges did not fit the crime and the deputies had been punished more harshly than Basil Ghali who was in custody for less than an hour before he was bailed out.
According to District Attorney Cooke “Earlier today I met with Bibb County Sheriff investigators about the ongoing investigation into the shooting at Lake Tobesofkee. Based upon the evidence they provided to me and other members of my staff, we presented information to a Bibb County magistrate, who issued a warrant for Aggravated Assault against Basil Ghali. District Attorney Investigators arrested Mr. Ghali and took him into custody a short time later at his home on Lake Tobesofkee.”
If Basil Ghali is found guilty this carries a potential sentence of one to twenty years in prison.
We are working on obtaining copies of prior arrest incident reports from Michigan and will publish them here.
We will be updating this article as more information arrives so visit again for more details later.
Was The Handgun Turned in the Weapon Used To Fire at the Fishermen?
When Basil originally turned himself in he surrendered a 40 caliber handgun that did not contain a laser sight. The fishermen, who are also avid hunters and know guns well, distinctly remember not seeing a muzzle flash and vividly recall seeing the laser pointed at them. Typically a handgun will have a more visible muzzle flash at night, whereas rifles will generally have a less visible flash due to the longer barrel. (Not always but as a general rule of thumb)
Flash suppressors on rifles also tend to be more effective and make them more invisible at night over ones used on handguns. Suppressors also have a legitimate use while hunting and whereas ones on handguns are more likely to be for nefarious purposes.
The fishermen also remember thinking they saw the shape of a long gun. Even though it was dark there was enough light to see the shadow and shape of the man and the weapon in the shape of a rifle. It is possible the 40 caliber handgun Basil turned in was the weapon that fired the shots. But is is also possible it wasn’t, especially since the laser wasn’t turned in with the handgun which is odd.
This is pure speculation on my part, but it is certainly possible a long gun was used. Perhaps it wasn’t turned in because of some illegal modification or other reason? Who knows… and maybe the handgun he turned was indeed the gun that fired the shots. The only way to know for sure would be to see if the bullets can be found with underwater metal detectors. I imagine there would be plenty of civilian volunteer divers if a call was issued to ask for help finding the bullets.
Handguns simply aren’t nearly as accurate at long distance. If a 40 caliber handgun was used it was very fortunate the fishermen weren’t hit in a hail of bullets rapidly fired even if it was unintentional. A handgun at that distance is without question far more dangerous than a rifle. Rifles have more points of contact with the shooter’s body than a handgun: both hands, shoulder and cheek. This makes a rifle a substantially more stable shooting platform than a handgun and why an average shooter is far more accurate with a rifle than a handgun. It takes time, practice and coordination to align a handgun’s sights. A rifle “points” naturally; you can see where the barrel is aiming.
You have no idea where bullets from a handgun fired in rapid succession will land at that distance at night. Especially if they are aimed a few feet away from three men at night in a moving target like a boat on water. Stray bullets are a real possibility especially with rapid fire.
I may be completely wrong but I felt this was an area worth discussing since no one else has.
Kinnan and Basil Ghali released on Bond.
Well it’s about time someone downtown grew a set of balls. I’d also put in no bail due to a flight risk. Shows us how stupid he is to try and pass off a pistol add his shooting weapon. This is The South, you know them people who cling to their guns and religion.
His daddy probably didn’t want one of his guns confiscated, or maybe it was modified and him not having the Proper ffl for that mod…
Alan, do you have copies of the police reports for the Lake Tobe events? Also,what specifically did Kinnan do to be charged with obstruction? (I’m glad they got him with something, by the way.)
There certainly are a lot of opinions and demands for an arrest on this situation. Yes, a situation happened on the night those shots were fired. If the sheriff’s department had not mishandled the case, we may know more facts on who committed this crime. Might it be possible that someone set this family up because they aren’t from this country? Maybe a hate crime has been committed on the Ghali family?
I personally have been arrested on a crime I did not commit. I insisted on a court trial and was found undeniably innocent. This could happen to anybody.
I personally know Basil Ghali. He seems to be a sensitive and kind person. His father is a well respected person in this community.
So this family owns some weapons. I know many families in this town who are known to collect many weapons. Some of which are illegal.
Macon has had elected officials known to be thieves, cheats, psychopaths & downright dangerous and damaging leaders of this town. Where was the outrage during this assault on our community? What about the cops who were found guilty of theft not long ago? Do you remember their names? Everybody is condemning Basil when we don’t even know what happened. Throwing stones is wrong.
We don’t know what happened yet. Hopefully we will. I hope everyone reading this never finds themselves in the position of being the subject of a witch hunt before the facts are known. The only facts that are known at this time is that law enforcement messed up. For all we know, a dirty cop fired the shots. It’s been happening a lot lately. Keep an open mind.