Two shootings reported in the county in just four days

Officers with the Banks County Sheriff’s Office responded to two reported shootings in the county in just four days last week.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, officers were called to Northridge Medical Center where a 26-year-old male was being treated for a reported gunshot wound to his right side.

Gregory Dane Gamble, 158 North Center Street, Winder, stated as he was walking to Tanger Outlet Center along the left side of East Ridgeway Road when he heard a car coming behind him and he heard a loud popping noise which he believed to be the vehicle “backfiring.”

Gamble described the vehicle as a white in color Cadillac occupied by three black males and one “heavier” white female who was driving.

Gamble told officers he took a couple more steps to keep walking and he immediately started feeling a burning in his right side. He said when he looked down he noticed his shirt was covered in blood and he pulled up his shirt and that is when he noticed he had been shot.

Gamble told officers he walked a couple of feet and got off the roadway in case the suspects came back. He stated he then called a friend to come pick him up and take him to the hospital.

The officer who responded to the hospital emergency room stated he observed what appeared to be a small bullet wound to Gamble’s right side, but markings where the bullet had exited.

The officer reported after observing the wound he again asked Gamble where he was walking on East Ridgeway Road and which way he was facing and Gamble once again stated he was on the left side of East Ridgeway Road walking towards Tanger Outlet Center. Gamble stated the car approached him from the rear.

The officer noted he explained to Gamble that if the car was approaching him from the rear and the suspects shot him the entry wound would be on his back and not his stomach. Gamble said he didn’t see anyone lean out of the vehicle and pull a gun as the vehicle passed him.

Gamble answered no when the officer asked if he might know who shot him and he said he didn’t see any miscellaneous identifiers on the vehicle. Gamble refused to provide the name and phone number of the friend that picked him up and he stated he couldn’t write out a statement because of his inability to read and write. The officer advised Gamble he could write down the information he provided, but he would have to sign the statement and Gamble refused.

Gamble was transported by Jackson County EMS to Athens Regional Medical Center for further treatment.

The case remains under investigation by the BCSO Criminal Investigations Division.

SUNDAY SHOOTING

Three people face charges following a aggravated assault report around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16. BCSO officers responded to an aggravated assault call at a Chambers Road, Commerce, residence, where they found 30-year-old David Dwayne Watkins lying on his back, face up on the front porch of the residence bleeding from his mid-section from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.

The officer reported another male, Jeremy David Kelley, and a female were standing on the porch. When questioned by officers the female stated she was asleep and she awoke to Watkins being shot. The female stated Watkins claimed he was shot by a male, Dustin Gunn, when he opened the door to his residence. The female said Watkins told her there were two men involved, Gunn and Justin McDonald, in the shooting and they had fled the scene in a green Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Kelley, 23, 3070 Highway 17, Toccoa, was also questioned and he told officers he was inside the residence watching TV when Gunn and McDonald came to the residence and began knocking on the door. Kelley stated he went into the back bedroom where the female was asleep at which time he heard an argument ensue and then he heard a gunshot inside the residence.

Kelley stated he heard Gunn and McDonald leave the residence and he then heard another gunshot come from the driveway. Kelley stated Gunn and McDonald left the residence and turned right onto Borders Road.

Investigators on the scene reported finding one spent shell casing from a handgun in the driveway and a hole in the side of the residence next to the front door. What appeared to be a bullet hole was also found in a drawer on the TV stand and a fired bullet was found inside the drawer.

Officers placed a lookout to surrounding counties on the Jeep and Gunn and McDonald. The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and requested to go out to Gunn’s residence in an attempt to locate both of the men.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations was also called to help in the investigation.

Charges were filed against three of those involved in the incident. Gunn and McDonald were both charged with aggravated assault. Kelley faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a schedule I or II controlled substance with the intent to distribute, possession of marijuana and possession of a schedule IV controlled substance.