Lowndes Co. shooting victim's family speaks out - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Lowndes Co. shooting victim's family speaks out

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By Lydia Jennings - bio | email

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HAHIRA, GA (WALB) -

A Lowndes County woman believes her husband saved her son's life by taking a bullet for him that was fired by an irate neighbor. Tonight, that neighbor is in jail charged with murder.

Three days after a deadly shooting on Union Drive, yellow crime scene tape still reaches around 66-year-old David Harrelson's property. He's accused of killing his neighbor Friday; shooting Josh Commander in front of Commander's wife and stepson.

"That man shot my husband like a dog, like a dog, in front of me," cried Commander's wife, Amy.

Amy Commander claims Harrelson often blew air horns to annoy his neighbors and their dogs.

Commander says problems with Harrelson had been brewing for years in this neighborhood, but with the two homes just 50 yards apart, it was hard to stay clear of the man.

"And just like this as clam as I am saying, 'I'm going to ask Mr. Dave if he'll please stop blowing the air horn so the dogs will quit freaking out,' and didn't I tell you Jacob not to do it? I said, 'Jacob do not go over there,'" said Amy of her son Jacob.

Commander says, when 11-year-old Jacob asked Harrelson to stop, their dogs got loose and ran to the sound of the horns. She says her husband ran to catch the dogs and Harrelson grabbed a gun and pointed it at her son.

"Dave had a gun, just like this, off his porch, pointed toward Jacob at the time, and I saw Josh just start running, running as fast as he could," said Amy.

Commander says Josh tried to get the gun away from Harrelson. Then kept him from shooting Jacob.

"I saw Josh look down and look over at me with a blank look like, 'this is what I have to do.' And he just stepped over to the left and I heard the gun shot," said Amy.

Jacob says his step-father died a hero, saving his and his mother's lives.

"He just saved me and my mom, he's a great man and did not deserve to die."

Harrelson remains in the Lowndes County Jail charged with murder.

Other neighbors tell us David Harrelson did things to antagonize them as well. Josh Commander was a soldier who served two tours in Iraq. His family is still putting together funeral arrangements.

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