Shooting reported on Hwy. 98

The victim was transported to Athens Regional Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the side. The victim had told Jackson County officers that an unknown male in a ski mask and dark long sleeve shirt had approached his work truck in the Food Mart parking lot, opened the passenger side of the truck and shot him. The victim then reportedly drove the truck to Big Oak and called 911 on his cell phone.

According to chief deputy Shawn Burns, the victim received non-life threatening wounds and was released the next day. The investigation continues.

In a separate incident, officers were dispatched to Grady Lane in reference to a fight in progress. Once there the officer made contact with two males who had reportedly gotten into a fight about prescription medication. One man said he used a shovel to get the other man off of him. The other man was intoxicated and unable to tell the officer what had happened or what day of the week it was. His tongue was swollen and he had blood around his mouth. He was transported to the hospital. A woman at the residence was also intoxicated and unable to tell officers what happened. Two small children were there who were under the woman’s care and their grandmother picked them up to spend the night with her.