DOOLY COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) —Dooly County Sheriff Craig Peavy says he and about 20 officers were already on scene patrolling a block party on Pine Street when shots rang out, leaving two dead and 35 injured.

Sheriff was on scene when shots rang out

Peavy said he and deputies at first thought the gunfire was fireworks before confirming someone had been shot.

They were able to get to the first victim quickly, but as they located them, shots rang out again, Peavy said.

“And as soon as we started, you know, engaging to the scene, everybody was on the way from different parts of the city,” Peavy said. “They found the first victim.”

“And then the call started with outside agency help and EMS and stuff, you know, because we knew we had a problem,” he said. “But then while we were on scene, more shots rang out. So I knew I needed all the help I could get.”

Hospital treated surge of gunshot victims

Of the 35 injured, the hospital said 26 were taken to Crisp Regional Hospital.

Only five nurses and one doctor were working Sunday morning when the hospital received the initial call, the hospital said. Crisp Regional is a Level III trauma center, and that night treated more than three times the number of gunshot victims it would normally see in an entire month.

“People came in here to help that weren’t on call, had no idea that this was going to happen, went to bed at night thinking it was just going to be another night, get up tomorrow morning at a church, and they got a call at 2 o’clock in the morning and showed up,” a hospital staff member said. “And if they hadn’t have it, it would have been a whole different story.”

The staff member said the hospital normally sees two or three gunshot wound patients a month, but treated at least 18 in about an hour that night.

Four of the 26 victims were transported to a Level I trauma center outside the area. Three remain in the hospital in stable condition.

The GBI and local law enforcement agencies are working to find the person or people responsible, officials said.

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