Deputy Shoots At Dog, Hits 10-Year-Old Instead

When a deputy shoots at a dog but hits a 10-year-old boy instead, how should police handle it?

That’s the question being asked tonight after 10-year-old Dakota Corbitt found himself the victim of a police-fired gunshot by an unnamed deputy in Douglas, Georgia.

While the child is going to live, the bullet tore through the back of his knee and exited the front of his leg, reports WFSB.com.

The news site explains:

He was initially taken to Coffee Regional Medical Center for treatment, but was later sent to Savannah Memorial Hospital for surgery.

But the situation of how the child was shot remains somewhat unclear.

Sheriff Wooten said a deputy, who was not named, was on 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 immediately clear if the gun was actively fired by the deputy.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called to investigate the shooting.

Douglas Police Chief Gary Casteloes added that the suspect the deputy was after had previously shot and wounded a police officer in the leg.

The suspect in question was 19-year-old Christopher Barnett, and he was captured unharmed at 7:30 pm.

Here’s more on the developing Barnett situation from WALB:

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…. 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.

Barnett had made his way to a pond nearby on Burton Road. Another person living in the home first came in contact with the shooter while he was sitting in this chair at the pond behind the home.

“He was sitting there like he didn’t have a care in the world,” said Rich.

Rich said Barnett went back to the house, where he was trying to ‘blend in.’

Her brother was in the yard when authorities later came for Barnett and arrested him.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that we’ve told you about a firearms mishap involving law enforcement.

Previously, we brought you the story of an Arambula family that sued police after a cop shot the homeowner instead of the intruder. Fortunately, as in the “deputy shoots at dog but hits kid instead” case, the homeowner lived.

Do you think officers are too quick to use their weapons while on the job? Sound off in our comments section.

[Image via WALB, linked above]