A man shot in a Dalton hospital parking lot over a cigarette lighter was in stable condition Monday afternoon. And once he's healthier, investigators plan to ask him more about the incident, including whether he knew the alleged suspect.
Kevin Laray Brafford, who was visiting a relative at Hamilton Medical Center, went to the top level of hospital parking deck around 5 a.m. Sunday to smoke, Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier said.
Around the same time, a hospital patient, Andrew Paul Desimone, 24, left his room and went to his car, Frazier said. Hospital security launched a search for Desimone, police said.
“Apparently, Brafford asked Desimone if he had a lighter,” Frazier said. “Desimone pulled a gun from his car and shot [Brafford] in the abdomen.”
Desimone then got into his car and drove home, police said.
Brafford, 27, stumbled into a stairwell and collapsed. Hospital security officers found Brafford and immediately took him to the emergency room, Frazier said.
On Monday, Brafford was in stable condition at the hospital’s intensive care unit, Frazier said. Brafford is expected to make a full recovery.
Desimone, meanwhile, drove home and went inside, police said. Someone called police to alert them he was home, and officers were able to arrest Desimone without incident.
Investigators believe the shooting was a random incident and that there was no previous connection between Desimone and Brafford. But detectives have not yet interviewed Brafford, Frazier said Monday afternoon.
Federal regulations prohibit police from saying why Desimone was in the hospital, and Frazier said he has no criminal history in Dalton and wasn’t at Hamilton Medical under police protective custody.
Desimone is being held at the Whitfield County jail. He has been charged with aggravated assault with a gun.
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