ATLANTA (AP) - State police are trying to figure out why someone smashed a brick through the window of a small-town, south Georgia newspaper editor's home, then fired gunshots into the house and tried to light his vehicles on fire.
There's been an outpouring of support for Ben Baker, editor of the Wiregrass Farmer in Ashburn, but the reasons behind the attacks remain a mystery.
"People are coming up to me telling me they're praying for me and the family," Baker said Friday. "People have contributed to the reward fund, and I've had people say ... they'll come sit in my yard with a shotgun."
Baker hasn't taken anyone up on that offer, but says he's deeply appreciative of the support from residents in Ashburn, a city of roughly 4,200 people, about 160 miles south of Atlanta. His 2,100-circulation Wiregrass Farmer prints the kind of pictures people put up on their refrigerators: photos of schoolchildren, athletic teams and civic groups.
After Baker's kitchen window was shattered in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 30, police found that someone had also poured gasoline into one of his vehicles in an attempt to set it on fire.
About 13 or 14 hours later, someone fired a gun into the home while Baker and his family were inside, Ashburn police said.
"I wouldn't wish this on anybody," Baker said.
The case has now been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Ashburn Police Chief Joe Saxon told The Associated Press on Friday.
The latest incident happened five days ago at the newspaper's office, where someone damaged the building's power meter.
Now, a reward of more than $500 is being offered in hopes of breaking the case.
