The hearts of many sunk yesterday when?we learned five?lives were taken at the hands of one man and one gun. And what was most startling and, perhaps dark, was the gunman was the ex-husband of one of the victims.
The incident occurred in Douglasville, GA when Cedric G. Prather?shot and killed?Latoya A. Andrews, his ex wife,?Joseph Terry Brown, and two children aged seven and nine. Two other children were shot and taken to the hospital and remain in critical condition.
Teresa Carter gave a first hand account of the Georgia shooting by saying:
“I heard shots, and I heard the girl scream, and then I heard four more shots.”
The last shot most likely being the gunman taking his life. ?And while we may never know why the shooting happened, or the mental stability of Prather, we do know that this shooting opens up more wounds in the discussion about gun violence and gun related deaths.
But this story also raises a bigger issue, and that is victims knowing the gunmen.
“A survey done on 388 homes by?Dr. Arthur Kellermann of Emory University found that 76.7% of victims were killed by spouse, family member or someone they knew.”
Furthermore the study found:
“Strangers comprised only 3.6 percent of the killers.”
This is a sad reality for so many people that fall victim to gun deaths. While the goal is not to instill fear that all homicides are committed by someone that they know, this Georgia shooting has made it a very clear that many times the murderer is somehow connected to the victim.
Furthermore, the case in Georgia shows the damage?that resulted from an apparently estranged past.?While all the details of the shooting are not known at this time, a press conference will be held today to depict a clearer picture of the incident itself.
