Athens, Georgia

From the Athens Banner-Herald of May 16, 2005
(Requires free registration)

Man shot in neighborhood gunbattle

One man was hospitalized after being shot in the chest while trying to break into an apartment in The Hill Top Apartment Complex, located on the corner of Carr Street and Appleby Drive Sunday evening, according to Athens-Clarke County police.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday a late-model black Acura with several passengers pulled up in front of one of the complex's buildings facing Appleby Drive, police said. One of the passengers then ran up to a second floor apartment and kicked in the door, according to Athens-Clarke Police Lt. Melodi Bennett. He was brandishing a pistol, Bennett added.

The man inside the apartment also had a pistol and shot the man in the chest as he came through the door, she said.

A gunfight ensued as the suspect who had kicked in the door ran down the front porch of the apartment building and down Appleby Drive toward Carr Street, she said. He then collapsed and passed out in the Town View Apartment complex, across Carr Street from the Hill Top complex, and was taken away in police custody in an ambulance, said Bennett.

Meanwhile, as the man who had been shot fled, at least one other passenger in the black Acura opened fire on the apartment building with a shotgun, according to police. Police recovered several shotgun shell casings from the area, and their investigation is ongoing.

"The suspect who was shot said this started with an argument at the Ramsey Center earlier today," Bennett said. "But we just don't know yet. We are still investigating."

(More)