By Joe Johnson
A child reportedly was fatally shot and a woman injured Monday night in a domestic violence incident in Barrow County, in which the gunman took his own life.
According to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to a home at 181 Celestial Run at about 7:40 p.m. to investigate someone’s 911 call reporting a possible domestic dispute between 34-year-old Rachel Hollifield and her boyfriend, 59-year-old Leonard Ahearn when she heard gunshots and the line went quiet.
When deputies arrived at the home, located in a subdivision north of Winder, Hollifield told them that Ahearn had shot her and then shot himself but was still alive, the sheriff's office said.
Hollifield also told deputies there was an 11-year-old girl in the residence, Ahearn's biological daughter Angelique, who was found deceased from a gunshot wound, according to the sheriff’s office. Hollifield and Leonard Ahearn were transported to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, where the gunman later died and Hollifield is receiving treatment and recovering from a gunshot wound to her hand.
An investigation by the Criminal Investigations Division of the sheriff’s office “revealed Leonard and Hollifield were in an argument when he retrieved a pistol and shot Angelique, located Hollifield and shot her, and then shot himself, the BCSO stated in a release.
The relationships between the involved parties were not immediately disclosed by the sheriff’s office, which indicated that the investigation was still ongoing, and any further updates will be released when available.