Sunday, July 7, 2019

News 12 at 11 O'Clock

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT)-- On a normal day, Zachary Skinner says Canterbury Farms is a quiet, peaceful neighborhood.

"It's pretty quiet," Zachary Skinner said. "There's not much that goes on."

But last night was a different story.

"It was pretty bright at least in my backyard," Skinner said. "There was a lot of blue flashing lights and people walking the wood line."

A neighbor's doorbell camera caught the moment when police say a motorcyclist fired five rounds from a handgun at another car.

"They drove into the neighborhood and a couple shots were fired," Skinner said.

But Columbia County deputies say it started as a road rage incident.

James Gill was driving down William Few Parkway with his kids in the car when he says a motorcycle driver cut him off. He confronted the driver at Chamblin road and then drove away.

The Sheriff's Office says the man he confronted was 26-year-old Cortney Weatherspoon.

Gill told deputies the motorcycle driver kept following him, all the way into his neighborhood at Canterbury Farms. That's when shots were fired.

"It's really the first one I've ever heard in this neighborhood," Skinner said. "All the other neighbors say this normally doesn't happen here."

Traffic cameras caught Weatherspoon speed out and deputies chased him down William Few Parkway and all the way to Patriots Park.

The chase ended with no arrests, instead, police say he lost control of the motorcycle, hit a tree, and died.

Zachary says it's a situation that could've been prevented.

"A little bit more cautious," Skinner said. "Trying not to provoke anything just stick to my own and continue on the road."

A tragedy he'll remember the next time he's on the road.

UPDATE

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT)-- Columbia County deputies say they responded to a shooting on Canterbury Farms Parkway last night at 9:30 p.m.

It started on William Few Parkway. The driver of the car, James Gill, said a man on a motorcycle cut him off, and he confronted the motorcycle driver at the stoplight on Chamblin Road. Deputies later identified the motorcycle driver as 26-year-old Cortney Weatherspoon.

Gill told deputies he drove away, but the motorcycle cut him off again, and the driver waited at the entrance of Canterbury Farms.

Deputies say when Gill turned into Canterbury Farms to drop his children off at his house, Weatherspoon started following him. The motorcycle driver then fired five rounds from a handgun at Huxton Loop and sped away.

Columbia County dispatch saw the motorcycle, a blue 2006 Kawasaki ZX1400A, on the traffic camera turning left onto William Few Pkwy from Chamblin Rd.

Deputies found Weatherspoon on William Few near the Georgia State Patrol office and attempted pull him over. They say Weatherspoon refused to stop, so they pursued the motorcycle north on William Few Parkway.

They say the driver crossed over Columbia Road and continued north on William Few Parkway and then lost control of the motorcycle in the first curve near Patriots Park and left the roadway on the southbound shoulder.

The motorcycle driver struck a tree, was ejected and eventually died, the coroner says.

Weatherspoon was transported to Doctors Hospital by Gold Cross. H later died around 10:30 p.m.

12:45 a.m.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT)-- One person is dead after an incident on William Few Parkway, the Columbia County Coroner's Office says.

It is unclear what exactly happened but dispatch tells News 12, a driver called in about road rage on William Few. According to dispatch, that driver pulled over along Canterbury Farms Parkway to report someone pulled out a gun, as a result of the road rage.

Coroner Harriett Garrison says she can only tell us she is at the hospital working a death in reference to something that happened Saturday night on William Few.

News 12 reached out to Columbia County Sheriff's Office for more information.

We'll update you here.