A Marietta man was shot in the neck while shielding a toddler from gunfire at an apartment complex last week, according to a warrant obtained by AJC.com.

Paul Stewart was standing on a second-floor balcony of the Windy Hills Life apartments Jan. 6 when Rayon Kevin Clarke, 33, fired an unknown number of shots at two men standing outside the building after a verbal confrontation, the warrant said.

The warrant said Stewart was not involved in the confrontation. The 1-year-old he shielded was not shot; Stewart’s condition was not released.

Clarke was shot in the arm twice during the incident and taken to a hospital, Cobb County police said. He has since been booked into the Cobb jail.

He is being charged with five counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime.

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No one was hurt

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com