Update: Two wounded in Monday morning shootings
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 1, 2016
LaGRANGE — Two separate shootings less than an hour apart injured two people Monday morning in south LaGrange.
In the first event, a 23-year-old man was injured and suspect arrested about 10:45 a.m. Monday after gunfire at a home in the 300 block of Whitesville Street.
The alleged shooter, Lamond Anderson, 23, of Greenville, was taken into custody and questioned, according to a press release from LaGrange police. He was later released after witnesses’ and Anderson’s testimony indicated he acted in self-defense, said police Lt. Dale Strickland. The investigation is ongoing.
The injured man was unconscious when taken by ambulance to West Georgia Medical Center on Vernon Road with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, LaGrange police said. He was later flown by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, according to Troup County 911.
He was in stable condition this morning recovering from surgery, said LaGrange Police Detective John Slonaker, who is investigating the case.
Slonaker said a preliminary investigation has shown Potts and the gunshot victim did not know each other well and were at a mutual friend’s house playing poker before the shooting. The two men were gambling “over quarters” before the shooting, the detective added.
In the second incident, a 35-year-old disabled man was shot in the hand and leg shortly before 11:30 a.m. outside a residence in the 1800 block of Murphy Avenue.
The man was conscious and alert when he was taken by ambulance to meet a helicopter for flight to a Columbus hospital, according to LaGrange Police Sgt. William Nelson and Troup County 911.
He was listed in stable condition this morning, according to LaGrange police.
A witness at the scene of the Murphy Avenue shooting said the victim was sitting in a wheelchair outside the home when he was shot. Police believe a single gunshot wounded the man.
Police are unsure where the gunfire originated and were searching for suspects. Law enforcement set a perimeter around the neighborhood and used a K9 to search.
Editor’s note: This story was amended to correct errors.