Police say grandad fatally shot 6-year-old

“At this point in the investigation we believe the argument precipitated over a watermelon,” Gaissert said from the scene Monday. “The child either dropped the watermelon or cut it prematurely. The ensuing argument escalated and resulted in deadly violence.”

The dead boy was identified as Michael Levigne. His 5-year-old brother was in the home at the time but escaped unhurt and now is in the custody of Family and Children Services.

Maggie Beck-Coon, a research and communications coordinator for the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, took exception to police reports that the violence was initiated over fruit.

“People are not shot or killed over a dropped watermelon. People shoot their family members when that person is perpetrating domestic violence,” Beck-Coon said in an e-mail.

Clark was shot by police after a 45-minute standoff when he opened the front door while brandishing a handgun. Two officers from Commerce, two from Jackson County, one from Pendergrass and a Georgia State Patrol trooper fired shots, police said.

Clark suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He and his wife, Linda Dale Clark, were air-lifted to Grady Memorial Hospital. The suspect is now at Atlanta Medical Center and in critical but stable condition, according to police. Mrs. Clark is in stable condition at Grady.

The GBI is leading the investigation because it involved a police shooting. It has charged Robert Clark with murder, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of a police officer.

There had been six or seven 911 calls from the residence in the past and DFCS has long been involved with the family, Gaissert said. He said the biological father, Andrew Levigne, has been busted on drug charges. Police had been unable to locate the boy’s mother, Crystal Levigne, as of Monday afternoon.

“I would characterize the family environment as dysfunctional,” Gaissert said. “It was clearly a domestic violence incident.”

Neighbor Rita Whitman indicated there were signs of verbal abuse.

“It breaks my heart,” said Whitman, the mother of three teenagers. “I hate to say this because I feel like we should have said or done more, but there were times we heard him yelling at those kids. The one that he killed, he did yell at him a lot. You did see the occasional explosion of anger. He would just use terrible language, cussing so bad at that one boy.

“I only witnessed that two or three times but I just minded my own business. But I never, ever dreamed it was dysfunctional to the point that there would be violence.”