By Joe Johnson
An Athens man was shot in the buttocks during an altercations Saturday at a westside gas station, according to an incident report made public Monday by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
Details had not been immediately available when the shooting occurred soon after 5 p.m. at the Shell gas station and Food Mart on Tallassee Road.
However, according to the police report, there were witnesses to the shooting, which injured a 24-year-old Sussex Drive resident, but investigators obtained the best evidence from the store’s video surveillance system.
The police report noted that the video showed images of a white Chevrolet sedan and a dark blue or gray Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at the pumps.
“The driver of the pickup truck got out and entered the back seat of the car, and the passenger of the car got out and got into the back seat. It appeared both parties began to fight in the car and then both exited the vehicle and continued to fight,” according to the police report. “It looked as though they were fighting over a gun and the suspect knocked it away from (the victim). As (the victim) leaned over to pick up the object the driver of the pickup truck shot him two times.”
The suspect drove away in his truck on Mitchell Bridge Road, and the victim was transported to the hospital by National EMS. The report noted that the victim's buttocks had a bullet entry wound, but no exit wound, and that two cartridge casings were recovered from near the gas pumps.
Police asked for anyone with information about this case to contact Detective David Harrison at 762-400-7361 or david.harrison@accgov.com.