Second shooting victim dies, no more criminal inquiry

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - The second man in Wednesday's Stuart Avenue shootout died early Friday morning. 35-year-old Bryan Collier died in the hospital about 3 a.m. from several gunshot wounds.

Police say during an argument, Collier and 56-year-old Herbert Mitchell exchanged several shots at close range. Mitchell was killed instantly.

The District Attorney says now there will be no point to more criminal inquiry, because the real cause of the shooting will never be known.

"At this point because both persons are deceased, we won't really have any basis to know how the matter unfolded. Who was the aggressor?" said Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards.

It seems the shooting was over some damage done to Mitchell's property the night before.

Prosecutors said the shooting happened behind Mitchell's apartment off Stuart Avenue. This was the night before officials say a teenager was blamed for damaging Mitchell's property.

The next afternoon Mitchell argued with Collier about that damage, leading to several shots being exchanged by the two men at close range.

"There was an argument allegedly about events that had taken place that night. One party confronted the other party, and the shootout took place as we understand it," said Edwards.

The District Attorney and police say this is an example of why they ask people during arguments to "put the gun down."

"Gun play ultimately resulted in two deaths, so we just ask people to put the gun down," said Edwards. "Put the gun down before you go to a circumstance that could result in somebody dying."

Edwards says because both men involved in the shootout are dead, they will never know the true facts behind the argument and who was the aggressor in the gun fight.

Edwards says the investigation into the fatal shooting continues.

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