Fire vehicle runs over body in aftermath of Augusta double slaying

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - An Augusta Fire Department vehicle ran over a body on the scene of a weekend shooting that left two dead and four others injured Saturday evening.

The body of Germayne Farrell, 51, of Daytona Beach, Fla., was dragged 51 feet and 10 inches by the 2008 red Ford Expedition, according to a traffic report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Richard Roundtree discussed the incident during a news conference Monday about the double homicide. Roundtree noted that victims were pronounced dead before the “freak accident.”

A video of the incident is circulating on Facebook after a shoot-out at Outcast motorcycle club that left two people dead.

Officials say while responding to the scene of the intersections of Ellis Street, Prep Phillips Drive, and Sand Bar Ferry Road; the driver was leaving to go to East Boundary at Broad for other injuries. He was traveling north from Ellis Street, crossing through the parking lot of Prep Phillips Drive, when he did not see Farrell lying face down.

“He was clearing the area to get his car out so that emergency vehicles can come in and did not see the individual as he was coming off his path,” said Sheriff Roundtree.

The driver “failed to see” the body at the south edge of the parking lot because “the vehicle hood and fender obscured his vision and he misjudged the location” of the body, according to the report.

“We made sure his well-being and emotional well-being was okay, but it was a freak accident and I know how the internet makes it seem horrific, but it was an accident. I feel emotionally for that fire personnel and what they are going through,” said Sheriff Richard Roundtree.

“Misjudged clearance” is listed as the operator factor on the report.

The driver did not receive a drug test or an alcohol test in response to this incident, according to the accident report.

We reached out to the Augusta Fire Department, and they say they can’t comment at this time.

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