SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
Two people were wounded in a shooting overnight Saturday in Wyomia Tyus Park.
The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office responded at approximately 2:30 a.m. to the WellStar Spalding Regional Hospital Emergency Room where deputies met with Griffin Police Department personnel regarding the incident.
The shooting was not initially reported to 911 by either of the wounded parties or witnesses. It was only reported by hospital staff after the two victims arrived at the Emergency Room seeking treatment.
According to Sheriff Darrell Dix, investigators are still working to determine precisely what happened in Tyus Park.
He said the investigation has been hampered because both people who sustained gunshot wounds and numerous witnesses have been uncooperative.
“We have got multiple stories from multiple people. We’re still trying to track people down to get the facts. We have some people we’ve talked to who didn’t see anything and don’t know anything. The first time we talked to the victims, they didn’t know anything. We’re still trying to unravel the chain of events and how they happened,” Dix said Monday afternoon. “I don’t even think they’ve pinned down the exact location. I know there were some shell casings found in a parking lot up there, but right now, the victims and witnesses are not even being cooperative about where it happened.”
Dix could report that both individuals who were shot were males, and both were shot in the side.
“I don’t think any of the wounds were life threatening. I think they were both shot in the side – on opposite sides – but they were not life-threatening injuries from what I’ve been told,” he said.
Since Monday, SCSO Criminal Investigation Division personnel have resolved some questions regarding the incident.
“The shooting first of all was not gang related. It appears that two young men had a conflict over a female, and they decided to go to one of the areas at Wyomia Tyus Park to fight,” Dix said. “They got there, they started fighting and some time during the altercation, another person produced a weapon and fired.”
Authorities say the shots were not fired by either of the two who agreed to meet at Wyomia Tyus Park to fight over the female.
“We don’t believe it was the two involved in the mutual combat. One victim of the shooting is absolutely uncooperative. The second victim is somewhat cooperative but is having to be encouraged by family members to open up about what happened,” Dix said. “We’ve interviewed multiple people that were there at the time the incident occurred and we anticipate interviewing more people as it relates to this, but right now, it’s pretty much at the ‘we didn’t see anything’ and ‘we don’t know anything’ point where the witnesses are concerned. I don’t’ want to say that all the witnesses are being that way. Some of them are very forthcoming, but most are pretty much uncooperative.”
Asked if the multiple witnesses just happened to be at Wyomia Tyus Park at the time of the fight and shooting, Dix said, “There’s no indication they were just random witnesses. I believe they were there to witness the fight. So, the rumors that these people were there and sitting on their cars and someone began shooting, that it was just a random shooting, that it was gang related – those rumors are false. It was all over a young lady from what we’ve been able to gather so far.”
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office at 770.467.4282.
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