According to police, a furious father in Georgia used his daughter’s cellphone to track down her location and then shot the 17-year-old boy he discovered she was with.
On Wednesday morning, around 10:15 a.m., deputies from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a church parking lot across the street from two Mount Airy schools.
Dustin Vandegrift, 36, was apprehended by police as he tried to flee the Central Alliance Church in a white Camaro when they got there. Cops say they detained him for questioning.
Detectives found the 17-year-old male victim after ensuring the safety of both schools. He was transported to a nearby hospital and is doing well. In the end, investigators determined that the boy had not been shot, but had been beaten and hit by ricochet debris.
Vandergrift told police he drove to the back of the church after tracking his daughter’s cellphone location. His 17-year-old daughter was found with the male by her father, and he confronted the two, attacked him, and fired at him.
“Vandergrift beat up” the boy he was with before shooting him, according to his daughter. Her father, she claimed, had also hit her.
The vandergrift’s.45-caliber pistol was found during a search warrant executed on his vehicle. One count of first-degree cruelty to a child; two counts of third-degree cruelty to children; two counts of recklessly endangering safety; and one count of aggravated assault are among the charges he is facing.
Without a bond, he was taken into custody at the Habersham County Jail.