A 57-year-old Gwinnett County grandmother would have hurt her 4-week-old grandson if a SWAT team had not moved in so quickly Wednesday and swept the child to safety, the father of the newborn told Channel 2 Action News.
Laurie Morgan was booked into the Gwinnett jail and charged with aggravated assault and reckless conduct after a standoff at an apartment complex near Peachtree Corners that lasted more than four hours.
The infant’s father, Chris Massie, shared a unit with his girlfriend and Morgan in building 1600 of the Highland Corners apartment complex on Noble Forest Drive.
Shortly before 3 a.m., police were dispatched to the apartment after a dispute between Morgan and a man believed to be Massie, Gwinnett police Cpl. Michele Pihera said.
Massie told Channel 2 Morgan became angry over all the items he collected as scrap.
“It was basically because I didn’t have every single thing in the house,” Massie said.
Morgan was intoxicated when the dispute started, and she had a gun, Pihera said. But Morgan didn’t directly threaten the baby. And a surprised neighbor described the woman as really sweet and kind.
But just before 4 a.m., Morgan left the apartment with the baby and a gun, police said. She allegedly fired one shot, then went back inside.
“Nobody was injured by this round fortunately, but we don’t know who her intended target was,” Pihera said. “So that’s when our officers on scene decided to make it a designated SWAT call.”
Massie heard the shot, but did not initially know if anyone was hit.
SWAT team members rescued the child and arrested Morgan about 8:30 a.m. She was asleep and the baby was safe.
“I don’t know what she was doing for that four hours,” Pihera said. “She might have been asleep the whole time.”
Witnesses told Channel 2 Morgan was kicking and screaming as she was taken to her jail cell.
Massie spent Wednesday afternoon trying to collect his things from the apartment complex.
Morgan remains in jail and will likely go before a judge Thursday morning, according to Channel 2.
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