JACKSON, Ga. — A metro Atlanta coach is recovering after authorities say he was shot in the face while trying to break up a fight between two groups at a community gym.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long, in a statement released on Facebook, said that the shooting happened on Sunday. However, the dispute arose at least one day earlier.
On Saturday, a group from the Flovilla community confronted another group from the Crosstown community. During that fight, someone fired a shot, and police were soon involved. Jackson Police investigated and made arrests in the Saturday incident.
However, one day later, the Butts County Parks and Recreation Adult Basketball League was playing at the gym on Franklin Street. That's when the previous day's events appeared to spill over, the sheriff said.
"Some of the perpetrators from Saturday's altercation [were] at the gym participating in the league and watching the other games," Sheriff Long said. "Two individuals from Crosstown entered the gym and noticed several individuals inside the gym that were associated with the group from Flovilla from Saturday's altercation."
The Crosstown subjects then allegedly left the gym and came back with guns - and more people - with the goal of retaliation, Sheriff Long said.
"The two groups began towards each other when coaches and players alike got between the two groups and forced them outside of the gym," he added.
Two people from the Crosstown group then pulled out guns, as did one person from Flovilla, leading to what the sheriff described as a standoff between as many as four people.
And it was this standoff that a local coach risked his life to end.
"A coach of the rec department who has spent 20 years of his life mentoring and coaching our youth, [was] familiar with the four individuals due to coaching them in the past," Sheriff Long said. "As the coach attempted to separate the two groups, one subject field two rounds."
One, the sheriff said, hit one of the armed suspects in the stomach. The other struck the coach in the face. The sheriff described the shooting on Sunday as the result of ongoing violence between the groups. In the aftermath, the sheriff said his office has arrested five juveniles and obtained arrest warrants for several adults.
The sheriff went on to vow that his office would dismantle each group involved, which he said have been identified as alleged street gangs.
"I will see that anyone that participates, assist, or helps any of these groups will be identified and arrested and charged under the Georgia Criminal Street Gang Act," he said.
Meanwhile, the department has not released the identity or the condition of the coach who was shot, only that they wish him a speedy recovery.
