Georgia Police Shoot Homeowner After Responding to Wrong Home
The homeowner remains in critical condition, authorities say.
— -- A Georgia police officer reportedly shot a man in the neck late Tuesday night after responding to a 911 call, but at the wrong house, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. The bureau will conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
Henry County Police responded to a 911 caller who described hearing gunshots and an unknown female yelling for help, the statement said. Three officers were dispatched to the scene in Stockbridge, Georgia near midnight, according to the GBI.
The GBI statement said, "Preliminary review of the 911 call indicates that the officers were at the wrong location," adding that when the officers arrived, the homeowner, William Powell, 63, was armed with a handgun.
"Preliminary information also indicated that officers gave verbal commands for Powell to drop his handgun which he did not comply with," the statement added.
The officer directly involved in the incident has been placed on paid administrative leave, per protocol, the Henry County Police Department said in a statement.
Powell was taken to Atlanta Medical Center where he is being treated for his injuries, the GBI said.
"My son-in-law is one of the best people I know," Geraldine Huey, the mother-in-law and neighbor of Powell, told ABC News, "he would do anything in the world for me."
Huey said that Powell is still in the hospital, in critical condition.