A shooting investigation involving a female struck by a bullet did not yield charges, according to the Statesboro Police Department.
The agency said officers and detectives were called to East Georgia Regional Medical Center on August 5th just before 9:00 a.m. in response to a 22-year-old female suffering from a gunshot wound. The injury was not life threatening.
According to a news release, the female allegedly sustained the injury in the course of an altercation between her 31-year-old boyfriend and another unknown male at the Valero Station located at 500 East Main Street, Statesboro. The victim was then driven to EGRMC for treatment by her boyfriend.
Officers secured the crime scene location at the Valero. Detectives interviewed a variety of eyewitnesses, processed the scene, and obtained critical video surveillance from the store.
From the press release from the Statesboro Police Department:
The evidence showed that the victim, her infant, and her boyfriend arrived at the store after the other involved male, later identified as Alvin Lennar Knight (34 years old, Carmel Drive, Statesboro). Knight allegedly became angry over a comment made to him by the victim’s boyfriend. Knight then attempted to assault the victim’s boyfriend multiple times and pursued him around parking lot despite bystanders’ attempts to restrain him from doing so. As the victim, her infant, and her boyfriend retreated back to their vehicle, the boyfriend retrieved a handgun from the car. The firearm accidentally discharged, striking the victim. Knight fled the area on foot and the victim was driven to EGRMC by her boyfriend. Knight later returned to the scene to retrieve his vehicle and was interviewed by detectives.
It appears from the totality of the evidence that the victim’s boyfriend felt that Knight constituted an immediate threat to his safety and the safety of his girlfriend and child. His use of a legally possessed handgun for self-defense was therefore justified under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 16-3-21). The injury to the victim was unintentional and therefore not a criminal act.
Knight’s conduct, however, placed the victim and her boyfriend in “reasonable fear of their safety” and therefore constituted a criminal charge of Disorderly Conduct (O.C.G.A. 16-11-39).
Knight was arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct and Possession of Marijuana (Less than One Ounce) after a quantity of that substance was located in his vehicle. He was transported to the Bulloch County Jail for processing.
Cases such as this again point to the need for adequate video surveillance in conducting criminal investigations. Video is an impartial witness that can aid in sorting through contradictory and convoluted events such as the ones described above. SPD encourages all businesses to have modern video surveillance and to network these systems into the Fusus system implemented this year.
