A woman was arrested on aggravated assault charges after authorities said she chased her ex-boyfriend in a car for more than an hour and then shot him because he no longer wanted to date her.
When 29-year-old Latonya Tucker opened fire on her ex-boyfriend, a person who had been helping him to get away from her pulled out a gun of his own and started shooting back, according to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office.
The ex-boyfriend was rushed to a hospital after the shooting, which happened about noon Tuesday in the area of North 9th and Bleachery streets. The witness who returned fire was not hurt.
When Spalding deputies arrived at the scene, the witness showed them where his car had been damaged by the gunfire, Sherriff Darrell Dix said in a statement. Investigators determined the man had shot out his own windshield.
According to the witness, the man told Tucker earlier in the day that he no longer wanted to be in a relationship with her, Dix said. The man then called the witness to pick him up.
Tucker followed the two men from Lithonia to Griffin, the witness told investigators.
“Both (the man) and (the witness) stated that Tucker tried to run them off the road several times as they were traveling south on North 9th Street,” Dix said.
The witness stopped the car so the man could get out and try to run from Tucker, officials said. When Tucker spotted the man running away, she turned her car around and started driving after him, Dix said.
When he wouldn’t stop, she pulled out a gun, Dix said.
Tucker shot at the man, striking him in the hip, officials said. That’s when the witness retrieved his gun and started shooting at Tucker from inside his car.
Tucker fled the scene but was arrested Wednesday in Cobb County. She was booked into the Spalding County Jail, where she remains. In addition to aggravated assault, she is charged with aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Dix said the witness will not be charged because he “exercised his 2nd Amendment right” when he shot at Tucker.
“He was lawfully trying to stop Tucker from causing death or great bodily harm to (the man) as allowed by Georgia law,” Dix said. “He did exactly what the statute allows you to do while in defense of yourself or another person.”
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