Georgia Deputy Tries To Shoot Dog, Hits 10-Year-Old Instead

Chris | InformationLiberation
Jul. 12, 2014

From WALB:
DOUGLAS, GA (WALB) - A 10-year-old boy will not need surgery after he was shot by a Coffee County deputy in a manhunt for a robbery and shooting suspect.

Coffee County Sheriff Doyle Wooten confirmed that the boy, identified as Dakota Corbitt, was shot.

Corbitt was taken to Savannah Memorial Hospital for surgery, but his mother said further examination revealed the bullet did not damage any major arteries.

The bullet entered from the back of the knee and exited out of the front of the child's leg.

Corbitt was expected to return to Coffee County early Friday evening.

The boy was shot during the arrest of 19-year-old Christopher Barnett.

According to investigators, Barnett is believed to be the person who shot a Douglas Police Officer earlier Thursday morning. He is also believed to have been involved in an Armed Robbery that occurred at Flash Foods in the City of Douglas prior to the officer being shot.

Christopher Barnett was denied bond at a bond hearing Friday afternoon. Right now he is only charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer. The Sheriff says Barnett is originally from Florida and has a 32-page long criminal record. The driver of the car Barnett was in has not been charged, but was placed in Police custody.

The situation of how the child was shot remains unclear. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Eastman was called to investigate the shooting.

Sheriff Wooten said a deputy, who was not named, was approaching the property when a dog ran up to him. The deputy's gun fired one shot, missing the dog and hitting the child. It was not clear if the gun was actively fired by the deputy.

Janelle Rich, Corbitt's sister, talked on Friday about what the chaotic scene was like. She talked about a towel the family used to try to stop the bleeding gunshot wound with.

Rich said she was inside the home when she heard the gun go off.

"I ran out the house with one of my kids and saw my little brother on the porch pouring blood," said Rich.


The shooting suspect, Christopher Barnett, was later found sitting calmly at a nearby pond and was arrested without issue.













All original InformationLiberation articles CC 4.0



About - Privacy Policy