Firefighter's SUV dragged body of Georgia shooting victim 50 feet, sheriff's report says

A firefighter responding to the scene of a deadly gunfight in Georgia drove over a victim’s body with an SUV and dragged it more than 50 feet, according to a sheriff’s incident report.

The document says the Augusta firefighter told investigators he didn’t see the body because “the vehicle hood and fender obscured his vision,” the Augusta Chronicle and WRDW-TV reported.

Emergency responders rushed Sunday evening to the scene of a shootout between rival motorcycle clubs in Augusta, said Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree. Two men were killed and four others were injured by gunfire.

The report says the firefighter was driving through a parking lot at the shooting scene when the undercarriage of his Ford Expedition struck the body of one of the slain men and dragged it nearly 52 feet (15.8 meters). The report identified the victim as Germayne Farrell, 51, of Daytona Beach, Florida.

Roundtree confirmed at a news conference Monday that a first responder’s vehicle had struck a victim’s body, but he did not mention it had been dragged. He called it a “freak accident” that happened as the driver was moving his vehicle to make room for other emergency vehicles.

“It was an unfortunate accident,” Roundtree told reporters Monday, adding: “The victims had already been pronounced deceased.”

Times provided by the sheriff’s office in the incident report and a news release indicate the coroner didn’t pronounce the victims dead until an hour after the body was dragged.

However, medical personnel who arrived earlier had determined Farrell was dead before the SUV ran over his body, said Lt. Kimberly Lee, a spokeswoman for the sheriff.

Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen did not immediately return phone and email messages Tuesday from The Associated Press. WRDW-TV said the Augusta Fire Department declined to comment.

The sheriff said more than 150 spent shell casings were recovered at the scene of the shootings, a building used as a clubhouse by the Augusta chapter of the Outcast Motorcycle Club. He said the gunfight also involved a rival club called the Thug Riders.

Members of both groups were among 12 people arrested on charges of murder and aggravated assault. Some of the suspects had come to Augusta from as far away as Florida and North Carolina, according the sheriff’s office.