Columbus shooting: Lawyer says injured teen was unarmed

The teen Frank Lumpkin III allegedly shot Tuesday after finding the young man in his wife's stolen SUV was running away and begging for his life, the teen's lawyer said Friday.

Five witnesses to the shooting at the 1538 Benning Road Super C gas station said the juvenile was not armed, said Derrell Dowdell, the attorney for the wounded 16-year-old.

Lumpkin's attorney, Frank Martin, said Wednesday the teen did have a gun and was pointing it at his client.

"As was his right under Georgia law, Mr. Lumpkin attempted to detain the criminal, who in fact had a firearm as Mr. Lumpkin had feared," Martin said in a statement.

Police said Lumpkin, accompanied by three friends, was passing the station about 8 p.m. Tuesday when he saw his stolen 2006 Lincoln Navigator with three youths inside. He pulled his car behind the SUV and, armed with a 9 mm pistol, approached the driver's side window, police said. An argument ensued.

The teen driver threw the car in reverse, striking Lumpkin in the shoulder with the driver's side mirror and dragging him backward. That's when Lumpkin's gun went off the first time, Martin said.

The alleged driver of the stolen vehicle attempted to leave the scene and wrecked the SUV in the parking lot of the gas station. Following the wreck, the driver leapt from the vehicle and ran behind the convenience store. Lumpkin followed and called for the suspect to stop. The suspect turned and Lumpkin saw a gun, Martin said. He shot the teen in self defense, the attorney said.

Dowdell told his client's version of the story Friday after speaking with the recovering teen and several witnesses. He said the teen didn't have anything to do with the theft of Tammie Lumpkin's Navigator from the 1538 Macon Road Circle K. Police said Lumpkin's wife had left the vehicle running Sunday at the station about 8:15 p.m. with the family's dog inside. The dog was later found unharmed.

Conflicting stories

Lumpkin and three other men, all of whom were armed, were heard using racial epithets to describe the three youths in the stolen Navigator, witnesses told Dowdell. One of those young men, also 16, said he was pistol-whipped during the altercation, according to a police report filed Tuesday by the injured teen. The young man said one of Lumpkin's companions beat him and witnesses corroborated the teen's story, Dowdell said.

Witnesses also told Dowdell the three men pointed their weapons at bystanders who tried to approach the scene. According to one of the eyewitnesses, one of the men pointed his weapon at both her and her 7-year-old son, Dowdell said.

The battery report filed by the teen who was struck with a gun says he received a small bruise and laceration to his head. The teen was charged Tuesday with felony theft by receiving stolen property, according to a police report.

Dowdell didn't know who hit the young man over the head, but he said he's going to insist police file charges against all of them.

"We are going to request additional charges against Mr. Frank Lumpkin be added and new charges to be levied against the other men who were involved," Dowdell said.

The men with Lumpkin were Robert Hinson, 41, Howard Pound, 47, and Joseph Carson Patrick, 34, police said. Hinson, Pound and Patrick face no charges, said Capt. Gordon Griswould.

The police report pertaining to the shooting did not list the other witnesses' names, nor give Lumpkin's age or address. The report listed the victim in the case as the "State of Georgia."

Lumpkin is a member of one of Columbus' most prominent families. He is the son of the late Frank Lumpkin Jr., for whom Columbus State University's Lumpkin Center is named. The suspect's sister is Muscogee County Probate Judge Julia Lumpkin.

Lumpkin was charged with aggravated assault and released from jail on a $2,500 bond. Dowdell said he thought the bond set by a Muscogee County Superior Court judge was low and it brought up concerns that perhaps Lumpkin received preferential treatment due to his family's status.

"We are deeply concerned how anybody, notwithstanding if you are rich and powerful, can get a $2,500 bond after shooting someone twice that was unarmed and begging for his life," he said.

Asked about the bond amount Wednesday, Martin said it was not low considering the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Martin maintains his client's action to recover his stolen car was justified by a Georgia law allowing a citizen to detain a felony suspect until police arrive.

The law states: "A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion."

Dowdell disagreed with Martin's interpretation of the law.

"There is no law that says a citizen can arrest by using deadly force to recover stolen property," he said. "A citizen arrest does not allow any citizen to shoot an innocent victim like my client.

"I think police officers are better educated, they're better trained and they have more experienced at handling an auto theft without shooting people," Dowdell continued.

The records

Martin said his client attempted to contact police several times after spotting the stolen Navigator twice in two separate locations around Columbus. He said the first set of 911 calls came Monday after Lumpkin saw the vehicle parked in the driveway of a home in south Columbus. By the time officers arrived, the SUV was gone. Lumpkin also called 911 Tuesday night and waited 20 minutes for police to arrive before approaching the Navigator at the Benning Road gas station, Martin said.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said Thursday that police were still checking their record of 911 calls from Tuesday night, but had not yet found earlier calls originating from the phone number Lumpkin gave them.

Asked how his client, who is in stable condition at The Medical Center, is doing, Dowdell said he's emotionally and physically scarred.

"After being shot twice, his mother said he's in a lot of pain," the attorney said. "He's in pain and moaning. He's a young man that's physically and mentally disabled after receiving two gunshot wounds."

The teen has not been charged in connection with the shooting, police said.

To all of Dowdell's claims regarding the theft of the Lumpkins' SUV and the subsequent shooting, Martin said, "I don't have any response. We'll just proceed in the courtroom. We'll just see what evidence is produced in court."