A dispute over a girl Wednesday brought together some boys to fight and some to watch. But it ended with one boy, a Stockbridge High School basketball star, getting shot.
“Evidently it had something to do with a female,” Henry police Lt. Joey Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday. “They were going to meet to fight, have a brawl, and the brawl turned into somebody getting shot.”
Devale Johnson, a star point guard who is headed to Cincinnati State College on a full scholarship, was taken to Atlanta Medical Center with a wound in his lower back region, Channel 2 Action News reported.
What the shooting revealed to cops was a secluded piece of high school land where teenagers meet to hang out and duke it out on regular occasions, Smith told The AJC.
The teens from around Henry County accessed the Eagle Landing High School property by trails through the woods from a nearby subdivision.
Estimates of the crowd size at the fighting grounds was between 10 and 20, he said. Not everyone came to duke it out.
One of the people in the crowd was Johnson, who has posted updates on social media since the shooting.
"Doctor said its a blessing I'm alive," he said in a Twitter post. "God is real … just thankful to see another day."
Police are looking for witnesses. And Smith has a message for Henry County teens who have used the hidden spot at Eagles Landing High School for things they would rather keep secluded. The party, he said, is now over.
“You got a group of kids who are from different high schools in Henry County and they like to meet up a this grassy neighborhood and fight,” Smith said. “Well not anymore. We’re going to be there.”
About the Author
