A 77-year-old man, Opel Wesley Lackey, has been arrested by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office in connection with a double shooting Sunday in Walton County, GA, according to local authorities.
Lackey is accused of using a handgun to kill one man and injuring another on River Run Road, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Monroe, GA. Deputies from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office arrived at that location at around 11:30 a.m. following a report that two people were shot by their neighbor, later identified as Lackey, whose whereabouts were unknown when they received the call and responded.
The victim who died was identified as 23-year-old Chandler Martin. The other victim, Mario Regalado-Bonilla, who is in his mid 30s, was found suffering from a gunshot wound. Lackey apparently used a chrome-plated handgun to, during an argument with Reglado-Bonilla, shoot Martin in the chest, killing him, and shoot Regalado-Bonilla in the lower abdomen, seriously injuring him. Martin was doing landscaping work for Regalado-Bonilla at the time of the shooting.
That shooting occurred on Regalado-Bonilla’s property and three other people were nearby to witness what happened. After removing the victims from the shooting scene, the Walton County Sheriff’s deputies learned from the witnesses that Lackey was holed up inside a nearby home. They used that information to establish a perimeter around the correct home, from which a man exited and said his grandfather was the shooter. The deputies were then able to take Lackey into custody for the double shooting.
Lackey was booked into the Walton County jail. He now faces one count of murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm/knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain crimes. While Mr. Martin is deceased because of his shooting, Mr. Regalado-Bonilla is now recovering at home.
Announcing the shooting on Facebook at the time it occurred while providing only a few details, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said, “The Walton County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a double shooting in the area of 1811 River Run in the Appalachee subdivision. One victim is deceased. It is still an active investigation. There is no danger to the public at this time. Please avoid the area while the investigation continues.”
Lackey’s family is now trying to pin the shooting on “racism,” as Lackey is African-American and they are claiming that the neighbors used racial slurs to “agitate him.” In the words of 11 Alive:
Authorities said in the report that once they arrested the 77-year-old, family members told the responding sheriff’s deputies that the neighbors always gave Lackey “a hard time.” They said, “they would curse at him, use racial slur and anything else that would agitate him.”
A family member said the neighbors reportedly “agitated” him every Sunday he would do yard work, the report stated.
One of the family members told deputies that Lackey would normally go back inside to “avoid conflict.”
But, the family said he was “tired of it” this past Sunday. That’s when a family member saw the shooting unfold, the incident report showed.
Featured image credit: Walton County Sheriff’s Office
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