A confrontation between a father and son recently took a violent turn, erupting in gunfire outside a Georgia home.
In an exchange that was caught on the Newnan home’s security camera, the two men traded several gunshots as their altercation led them into the front yard, officials said. Luckily, no one was hit or injured during the incident.
Mario Paul Clarke, 26, of LaGrange, was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. Deputies responded to the home on Covey Trail that evening after several shots had been fired, according to Investigator Corey Mauldin.
The disagreement started when Clarke’s father noticed that the younger man was carrying a gun.
Clarke’s father told him to hand over the weapon, but Clarke refused and instead pulled the gun on his dad, Mauldin confirmed. His father then went into his bedroom, got his own gun and chased Clarke out of the house. The confrontation continued in the front yard, Mauldin confirmed, leading to the gunshots.
At least some of the incident was caught on the home’s surveillance cameras, Mauldin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Clarke’s father called 911 and said “his son shot at him multiple times,” authorities said. No charges are expected against the father because he was defending himself at his own home, according to Mauldin.
Responding deputies recovered several shell casings and noted three bullet holes in the front of the house.
“The offender still had the firearm on his person when taken into custody,” according to the sheriff’s office’s news release.
Clarke was arrested at the scene and booked into the Coweta jail. He remained there Tuesday and was being held on $8,000 bond.
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