ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - One elderly woman is behind bars after a reported aggravated assault involving a firearm on Dartmouth Lane, according to Albany police.

Officers responded to a home on Dartmouth Lane, where Robert Johnson said a dispute over a lighter escalated into threats and a gunshot, according to police.

Johnson told officers a man identified as Alexander Brown asked him for a lighter. When Johnson gave Brown the lighter, he did not give it back and claimed he didn’t have it. Brown became aggressive and threatened to kill him, according to Johnson.

Johnson remained inside his vehicle when he heard Brown tell his grandmother, Shirly Smalls, to go grab a gun, investigators say. Smalls fired a shot into the air, and Johnson drove off.

Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said it’s unacceptable that someone not involved with the dispute put other people at risk.

“Part of the investigation did not appear that she was initially involved in that altercation,” Persley said. “I don’t know what her intentions were, but what it was, it did put her intentions did put other people in harm’s way.”

Smalls originally told officers she did not fire a weapon, but after officers searched the residence, they found the gun she allegedly fired. Smalls was arrested and taken to the Dougherty County Jail, according to the incident report.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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