New details are emerging about the events surrounding a shooting at a church in Mt. Airy Wednesday morning. The incident on the property of Central Alliance Church happened across the street from the Habersham Ninth Grade Academy and Habersham Central High School. While officials stress it was not school-related, the schools were placed on lockdown and the heavy police presence had the community on edge in the wake of Tuesday’s deadly school shooting in Texas.
Habersham E-911 dispatched officers to the area after a 911 caller reported hearing a gunshot.
“A 911 caller from a business across the street from two of our Habersham County schools reported hearing a gunshot as well as seeing a fight between what they believed was a juvenile male and a juvenile female in the area of the Central Alliance Church,” says Habersham County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Kevin Angell.
School Resource Officers placed the schools on lockdown. Officers were outside the Habersham Ninth Grade Academy when an injured 17-year-old boy ran across the road toward the school seeking help. Angell says that the SROs met him outside the building and provided medical attention. What medics initially thought were gunshot wounds were later determined to be injuries from the beating and ricochet debris.
Habersham EMS transported the injured teen to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville in stable condition.
HCSO deputies arrived on the scene and located 36-year-old Dustin Vandegrift attempting to leave the church in a white 2011 Chevy Camaro. Vandegrift was detained and subsequently transported to the sheriff’s office for questioning.
“During the interview of Vandergrift, he told investigators that he tracked his juvenile daughter’s cell phone to the rear of the Central Alliance Church and decided to check on her. Vandergrift confronted the juveniles and physically attacked the male juvenile before firing a shot at him,” Angell says.
HCSO Criminal Investigators also interviewed the 17-year-old female, Vandergrift’s daughter, who was involved in the incident behind the Central Alliance Church. She told investigators that her father appeared behind the church, battered the boy she was with, and then shot at him. She also says that her father struck her after the incident with the male juvenile.
Investigators served a search warrant on Vandergrift’s vehicle and investigators say they recovered the .45 caliber M1911 firearm used in the incident.
Based on interviews and evidence, deputies arrested Vandergrift and charged him with one count of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, two counts of first-degree cruelty to children, two counts of third-degree cruelty to children, two counts of recklessly causing harm or endangering safety, and one count of simple battery under the Family Violence Act.
Vandergrift was booked into the Habersham County Jail with no bond. The investigation is ongoing.
