Sheriff: Dispute on I-85 in Jackson County ends with gunfire, death of Philadelphia man
A dispute between two men from Philadelphia, Pa., led to one man shooting and killing his companion early Monday along Interstate 85 in Jackson County, according to Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum.
The suspect, Donald Carter, 67, is charged with murder and aggravated assault in the slaying of Samuel Sanders, 71, Mangum said in a news release.
Authorities were notified of the shooting about 3:10 a.m. when Jackson County 911 took a call from a man identified as Nicholas Avery Jefferson, 22, also of Philadelphia, who reported he was on I-85, but was unable to explain what had happened, according to the sheriff’s report.
However, when deputies arrived at the location near Commerce, they found a panel truck hauling a U-Haul trailer and an unresponsive driver, who was wounded by a gunshot, Mangum said.
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Sanders was transported to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, where Mangum said he was pronounced dead.
Deputies were also told that the shooter had fled the scene.
A K-9 unit from the Lee Arrendale State Prison and a Georgia State Patrol helicopter responded to aid in the search. Officers from GSP and the Commerce and Jefferson police departments also arrived to hunt the suspect.
Mangum said she and other officers were parked along a dirt road that parallels I-85 shortly before 9 a.m. when a resident of the area drove up on a four-wheeler asking what was happening. After explaining the situation, they asked the man to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.
She said the man went back to his farm and began checking the buildings and found the suspect asleep in one of the buildings near a chicken house. Mangum said the man quietly backed out of the building and contacted law enforcement. Officers were able to make an arrest without incident, she said.
The weapon believed used in the shooting has been recovered, the sheriff said.
The Philadelphia men had been working a job in Georgia and were on their way back to Pennsylvania when an argument broke out and Carter shot Sanders, according to Mangum.
The nature of the dispute was not disclosed.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Dispute on I-85 in Jackson County ends with man dead, another in jail
