Alexander William Carter
A Clinton man has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment after an Anderson County man was allegedly shot in the stomach and left leg after an argument early Monday morning, court records said.
The shooting was reported at about 3:30 a.m. Monday on Leach Lane in Anderson County, north of Clinton and west of Highway 25.
The injuries to the male victim, Nathan Robert Gifford, appeared to be non-life threatening, according to a Monday press release from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. Gifford was alert and taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he had to have a surgery to treat his injuries, the press release said.
Warrants filed in the case said the alleged shooter, Alexander William Carter, 20, had been arguing with Gifford, who lives in the Leach Lane home, when Gifford told Carter to leave.
Carter left but returned less than five minutes later and started shooting, said the warrants, which cited Gifford. One bullet struck Gifford in the stomach, and another round hit him in the left leg, the warrants said.
Also in the area where the shots were allegedly fired was another victim, Cierra R. Pyle, who also lives in the Leach Lane home, the warrants said.
After the alleged shooting, Carter’s description was sent to emergency dispatchers, and a few minutes later, the Clinton Police Department located a car and person that matched the suspect’s description at Gate Manor Apartments on Fowler Street in north Clinton, according to the warrants and the press release.
Taken to Fowler Street by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Pyle identified both Carter and a black car that had been located, the warrants said. Pyle had witnessed Carter shooting Gifford, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Floyd Long.
Carter was detained by the CPD and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, where investigators spent most of Monday morning interviewing him, the press release said.
After being read his Miranda rights, Carter said he had been several different places that night, according to the warrants.
Long, the investigator, asked Carter if he could say what had happened on Leach Lane.
“He responded, ‘You know what happened,'” the warrants said.
Asked about the location of the handgun, Carter said it was by the apartment stairs, Long said. Carter led Long to a Taurus PT22 handgun in the yard of the apartment building, where it was laying on the ground, according to the warrants.
“Carter then told me he shot Gifford because he was beating Cierra,” Long wrote in the warrants.
But Pyle told Long she was not being beaten and was not in fear until Carter pulled in and started shooting at her and Gifford, the warrants said.
Besides aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, Carter has also been charged with criminal attempt. He remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility on Tuesday afternoon.
In the press release, Anderson County Sheriff Russell Barker praised the teamwork between the two agencies that led to the quick apprehension of Carter.
“The communication between the deputies at the scene and the officers at the Clinton Police Department was flawless this morning,†Barker said Monday.
Clinton Police Chief Vaughn Becker said he hoped the case showed criminals that all agencies in Anderson County are united.
“This morning is a great example of two agencies coming together as one to locate and get this suspect off our streets,” Becker said. “Our united front will continue to yield quick, successful results like this morning.”
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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