Paul Ali Slater, shot five times at close range in an incident that attracted national attention, survived when few thought he would.
“I haven’t met anyone who isn’t surprised to find out he’s still kicking,” Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said.
But instead of celebrating his release from Gwinnett Medical Center after more than a month in recovery, Slater finds himself incarcerated. He’s facing three counts of aggravated assault and burglary charges for allegedly forcing his way into the home of a Loganville mother, who hid with her 9-year-old twins in an attic crawlspace as Slater gained entry with a crowbar.
When Slater, 32, discovered their hiding place, the unidentified woman, who’s emerged as a hero to gun rights advocates, responded by firing five bullets into the Long Island native.
Chapman said the bullets punctured his lungs, liver and stomach.
Somehow Slater managed to escape the home but he didn’t get far, crashing his car into a nearby fence, authorities said. He was found by Walton deputies bleeding profusely in a neighbor’s driveway.
On the way to the hospital, he was asked why he broke into the Henderson Ridge Drive home.
“I was there to steal,” he told a deputy, according to Chapman.
Slater was denied bond Monday morning. The sheriff said the suspect is “walking and talking” but is unable to digest solid foods.
The Gwinnett resident was released from jail there in late August after serving six months for simple battery and three counts of probation violation. Slater has six other arrests in Gwinnett dating back to 2008, according to public records.
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