UPDATE FROM GRIFFIN POLICE: On May 9, 2020, at 7:41 P.M., The Griffin Police Department responded to a call of a juvenile shot at 608 Hammock St., Griffin Ga, 30223. Officer’s responded to the scene and discovered that a 12 year old male subject had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. Responding officers provided CPR until the arrival of EMS who transported the 12 year old juvenile to Well-star Spalding Regional Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Deputy Coroner Mike Pryor pronounced the 12 year old dead. The Griffin Police Department Criminal Investigation Division was immediately notified and responded to the scene. During the course of the investigation, several rumors and witnesses accounts had to be effectively sorted and pieced together. Early in the investigation it was discovered that previously that day, Uniformed Patrol Officers had attempted to effect a traffic stop in the area but the individuals fled behind houses in close proximity to where this shooting occurred some two or more hours later. As Griffin Uniformed Patrol units searched the area they found a bag of suspected MDMA and recovered it where it was turned in for examination. A weapon was not found at that time. The patrol officers later made contact with the suspected driver of the fleeing vehicle who provided them with information relative to the investigation. On Sunday, May 10th the children who were present at the time of the shooting, siblings of the victim, ages 7 and 5 were forensically interviewed at the Southern Crescent Sexual Assault Center, an entity that specializes in interviewing children where the interview produced an extensive corroborative statement by the five year old indicating that he had found the gun in the wooded area near the location of the shooting (in proximity to where officers had earlier retrieved the suspected bag of drugs) and thinking it was a toy, accidentally discharged it striking his brother in the chest. Evidence and witness accounts are consistent with this account by the five year old. After eliminating some of the erroneous accounts and information related to the incident, the Criminal Investigation Division has now shifted its investigation to finding the subject(s) that are suspected of abandoning the firearm. The weapon and the child’s clothing were collected and will be sent to the GBI Crime Lab for analysis for touch DNA to determine further who has possessed and touched the weapon and the clothing will be subjected to a Gun Shot Residue analysis based on GBI discretion. The Griffin Police Department continues to investigate this case and all information has not been obtained but the facts and circumstances discovered lead to a strong hypothesis, substantiated by evidence that this incident is a tragic accident. We will diligently pursue and charge any other parties responsible for the actions leading up to the apparent abandonment of this weapon allowing for access by these innocent children. Our hearts cry out for this family during this time of tragic loss. Chief Mike Yates stated that ‘we will leave no stone upturned as we search for the individuals responsible for the abandonment of this weapon’.A 12-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting in Griffin near Experiment Saturday evening. ’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢’¢ The boy and other children were jumping on a trampoline at a home in the 600 block of Hammock Street. The kids heard a pop and the boy fell. He was hit in the chest and died at the scene. The body was taken to the state crime lab. The investigation is ongoing.
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