A man was arrested after he shot someone who was attempting to elude officers early Saturday in Covington, police said.
Marcus Allan Pitts, 46, of Covington, was charged with aggravated assault after he fired a shot at Terence Lee Lennox, 33, of Lawrenceville, police Capt. Craig Treadwell said.
Officers administered first aid to Lennox, who was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was in critical condition.
Pitts, whom Treadwell described as a “concerned citizen” with no known criminal record, apparently saw Lennox running on foot from a crash scene and tried to block him with his truck. Pitts then got out and fired a handgun.
“I think he thought he was trying to stop the guy from fleeing from the accident or our officers,” Treadwell said. “We still don’t know why, but he fired his handgun and struck the suspect in the neck.”
Police know of no connection between the men, Treadwell said.
The shooting took place in the vicinity of Newton Plaza on U.S. 278.
The incident began about 7 a.m. when police received calls about a white SUV driving erratically on Ga. 36 headed toward the Covington Square, police said.
Officers attempted to locate the driver in the vicinity of Church and Monticello streets, but they weren’t chasing him, Treadwell said.
Nevertheless, “he took off in his SUV and crashed into another vehicle at Highway 278 and Pace Street.”
No one in the other vehicle was injured, Treadwell said. Lennox then took off on foot toward Newton Plaza, where the encounter with Pitts occurred.
Pitts is being held in the Newton County Detention Center.
“He’s going to have to articulate to the court why he used deadly force and it will be up to the court to decide” his fate, Treadwell said.
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