Common Folk Using Common Sense

… at a hospital?

Authorities in west Georgia say one person is dead and two more are wounded in a shooting at a hospital.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren confirms that at least one of the three victims in Thursday’s shooting at Doctors Hospital has died.

Police say they wounded the suspect and that he is being treated. The chief says another person is in critical condition.

Boren says one officer responding to a call of shots fired saw an armed man leaving the hospital and saw him shoot a bystander in the head.

The officer followed the suspect to another part of the parking lot where the suspect opened fire on the police.

… at a bank?

Police are on the hunt for the person who shot and robbed a man as he walked across a busy street to make a bank deposit Monday morning.

According to police on the scene, the victim, Ansley Wine Merchants co-owner Jim Mead, was on his regular morning run of bringing money from his business at Ansley Mall across the street to the Wachovia bank on Monroe.

Kathy Payne, who used to work at that bank, was a customer inside and heard the gunshot outside. Then the victim staggered inside.

… at home?

Two Snellville residents were critically wounded after being shot during an apparent home invasion early Sunday.

Gwinnett police said a 51-year-old male and 45-year-old woman, whose names are being withheld, were taken to area hospitals and were in critical but stable condition.

Authorities were called to the victims’ Michael Jay Street home around midnight after as many as four male suspects allegedly entered the residence and shot them.

Police are investigating, but have no suspects or motive in the case.

… at college?

A 21-year-old University of Georgia student was shot at while inside her car early Sunday morning by an unknown person who began following her in an older-model “box-style car” after she turned around in a driveway off South Milledge Avenue near East Campus Road, Athens-Clarke police said.

The student said she ducked down inside her Honda Civic during the 2:38 a.m. incident until the shooting stopped then went to a Five Points restaurant, where she called police, reports said.

Police later found that a home near where the shooting occurred was struck with several bullets, which lodged into the walls and broke a window.

… while shopping?

A 72-year-old Newnan woman was jumped from behind and held at gunpoint in her car Friday morning outside a Coweta County Wal-Mart, allegedly by the same man who was arrested just hours later and charged with the murder of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, authorities said.

“He came up behind me,” she recalled. “He was wearing camouflage clothing. He beat me down to the [car's] floor and said, ‘How much cash do you have?’ I told him $50 or $60. He had the gun on my head while I was down.”

“When he told me he was going to kill me, I said, ‘Oh, Lord, the only reason I came to Wal-Mart was to get a pre-paid phone card to send to my son in Iraq,’ ” Llewellyn said. “Then, he jumped out of the car running, calling me the ‘B’ word.”

… at the Post Office?

A suspected homeless man got more than he asked for Thursday outside the United States Post Office/Federal Building at 401 N. Patterson St.

The man, Danny Brown, 51, asked a 47-year-old woman exiting the building around noon for some spare change. When the woman refused, Brown reportedly shoved her, pulled a hammer from a bag he was carrying and threatened her, according to Cmdr. Brian Childress with the Valdosta Police Department.

… while on your own property?

An Albany man was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting Tuesday, police reports show.

According to police reports, James Willie Terry Jr., 43, of Albany was taken to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital for observation after being shot in the upper right arm.

Around 10:30 p.m., officers responded to a home on the 1400 block of East Waddell Avenue, where they found Terry lying face down in front of a 2003 or 2004 model Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the report says.

Terry’s brother Mike told police that James Terry had come over the home, which belongs to Rhonda Ledbetter, to change a tire when the shooting occurred, according to the report.

Police also noted in the report that the back window of the Monte Carlo had been shot out, although no one other than James Terry appeared to have been injured.

The report shows that Ledbetter told police that earlier Tuesday evening, she had had been involved in an argument with a man known only as “Insane,” who borrowed a DVD player from her.

The case was turned over to investigators with no suspects or arrests.

… at a city park?

Two men are in jail following an incident that took place at Central City/Bonner Park on Monday afternoon, a time when the park and nearby walking track were alive with activity.

Hasun Reaves, 22, is charged with armed robbery and false imprisonment after reportedly pulling a gun on another man and demanding money. The incident took place shortly before 7 p.m. Monday near the basketball courts at Bonner Park. Reeves reportedly pulled out a semi-automatic pistol during the incident and grabbed the victim’s collar, while two of Reeves’ friends attempted to rough up the man.

… at a movie theater?

After searching for a robbery suspect in a Fayette County movie theater for nearly 24 hours, police arrested the man early Wednesday after they found him hiding between two walls on the second floor.

Darrell Brown, 45, of Douglasville, was taken into custody about 1:30 a.m.

Another suspect, Aundrea Lee, 28, of Powder Springs, was taken into custody Tuesday as he was trying to hide in a ceiling of the sprawling complex. Both men were facing several charges, including armed robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Authorities said two employees were tied up during the robbery. It was not immediately clear what, if anything, was taken during the heist.

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