Two shootings reportedly happened in Hancock County Tuesday evening. The outcome of one of them spilled over into Putnam County, but without incident, according to authorities.
A call reportedly came into Putnam 911 Tuesday night about a vehicle wreck with injuries near the Hancock County line. As emergency personnel were en route to the location, they learned that the injured victim had not been in a vehicle crash, but had been shot and had been transported by personal vehicle to Putnam General Hospital.
Eatonton Police Department was called by hospital authorities around 9 p.m. to come there because a noisy crowd had gathered.
“We just went to disperse the crowd, and no one caused any problem at all,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. He noted that the shooting had taken place in Hancock County.
Meanwhile, in what is believed by local authorities to be a separate incident, there was an officer-involved shooting in Hancock County around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, according to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
In that shooting, a Hancock County Deputy responded to a stolen vehicle call on Shoals Road.
“When the deputy arrived, he made contact with a man later identified as Montavious Lewis, age 17, of Sparta. Lewis began fighting with the deputy, at which time the deputy fired his service weapon, hitting Lewis. Lewis was taken to Athens Regional Hospital in Athens for treatment,” Nelly Miles, director of GBI Office of Public & Governmental Affairs, wrote in the press release.
Lewis is in stable condition.
That case is still under investigation by the GBI, according to the release.
When asked about the victim who was brought to Putnam’s hospital, Chief Cardwell said the two shootings “are two totally different incidents, from what I understand.”