Man arrested after Grovetown shooting sends girl to hospital

GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A young girl has been taken to the hospital after a shooting incident in the 5000 block of Sterlington Drive, according to the Grovetown Police Department.

It was a scene that spoke for itself.

About six cars from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Grovetown Police Department were stationed outside the home.

The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. Monday at the Sterlington Apartments.

Police say after the shooting occurred, the family put the child in the car and headed toward a local hospital. The vehicle was pulled over by a Columbia County deputy in front of Applebee’s on Gateway Boulevard due to “erratic” driving.

The deputy was informed of the child when he approached the vehicle, according to officers.

“The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office had conducted a traffic stop just outside the city limits on a vehicle that they observed driving erratically. And that’s what kind of led to this. When they made the traffic stop. Two individuals got out of the car holding the child that was shot claim or explaining that the child had been shot at the address over here on Sterlington Drive. That point they notified us and we responded over here,” said Jamey Kitchens, chief of Grovetown Police Department.

Kitchens says there were multiple children in the home at the time.

“We believe right now there was at least two adults, possibly three, and maybe three children,” he said.

Kitchens says the father, Davion Daniels, was with the child when the shooting happened, and says Daniels admitted to putting a handgun on the floor while he went downstairs to take a phone call.

Officials say she suffers from a gunshot wound to the head.

“As it stands right now, we know of at least one gunshot wound to the head,” said Kitchens.

Daniels told police a short time later he heard a gunshot and ran upstairs to find the child suffering from a wound to the head.

Daniels and a family member then placed the child in the vehicle and began driving to the hospital when they encountered the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office unit.

At this time the child is in critical condition and no further information on their condition is available.

Daniels has subsequently been charged with second-degree cruelty to children and possession of a machine gun.

The “machine gun” charge is due to the discovery of the firearm having been illegally modified to a fully automatic configuration.

Daniels was committed to the Columbia County Detention Center on the listed charges, with additional charges pending.

He had been denied bond as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Grovetown Police Department, officers are in the preliminary stages of the investigation.

The child was taken into surgery, in critical condition.

Investigators took a window from the scene and will be processed at the Grovetown Police Department.

Officials were on the scene until around 8:15 p.m.

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