Police say 14-year-old fired a barrage at a family, but no one was hurt

Published 9:26 pm Thursday, March 28, 2019

MOULTRIE, Ga. — A Colquitt County teen-ager faces at least seven felony charges in a Monday night incident in which he is accused of firing a volley of bullets at a group of people.

No one was injured in the gunfire at the residence in the 5400 block of Highway 37 West, where officers were dispatched at 9:50 p.m. on Monday.

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The shooting occurred about 20 minutes before that time, said Sgt. Nathan Cato of the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office.

“He fired approximately eight rounds, possibly from a 9 mm,” he said. “There were seven people in the yard (at the time).”

 The shooting was preceded by an argument between a group of teen-agers that included the 14-year-old suspect and people at the residence.

“They pulled up,” he said. “The 14-year-old and three male buddies got out, started an argument with the family that lives there. When they were leaving the 14-year-old got in the passenger side of the truck, pulled a gun out and fired at them.”

Cato said he did not know what the two groups had argued about.

Officers found two bullets in the yard. The front and back windshields were shattered in one car, which also suffered damage to a door.

The 14-year-old suspect was charged with seven counts of aggravated assault. Each of those counts could bring a count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, also felonies, and there could be additional charges, Cato said.

“We picked him up at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday,” he said. “We recovered four guns, one (a) possible match.”

The teen, who uses a wheelchair at times, was taken to a state youth detention facility but since has been released to his mother. His Juvenile Court trial date is scheduled for April 10.