Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
DALTON, Ga. (WTVC) — A man was shot dead outside a home in Dalton Saturday night after he accused a father of abducting his own children, according to a police report.
The report identifies the man who died as 50-year-old Harlan Steve Kendrick of Chatsworth. The man who shot him does not face charges as of Tuesday. Because of that, we are not identifying him in this story.
This happened on Saturday (June 11th) a little after 6 p.m. at a home on the 1900 block of Riverbend Road.
The man, a father of two girls, told officers he was at his mother's house and about to build a bonfire.
That's when he saw a car drive past, slow down, reverse, and pull into his driveway.
The man approached the driver and asked him what he was doing there.
The police report says Kendrick said "he was following a child abduction alert and asked him if the juveniles were his."
The man said yes, and again asked why he was there.
The report says Kendrick ignored him, and yelled, "girls, is that your daddy?" to the girls who were watching from the front porch.
The man told the girls to go inside the house, and the report says Kendrick got out of his car.
The man told Kendrick to get back in his car and leave, but the report says Kendrick "started toward them," saying
"I'm taking those kids from you, God sent me here to get those kids.. they're coming with me... is that your dad... are you sure that's your daddy?"
The man again told Kendrick to leave and then went inside to get a pistol, telling his mother to call 911.
The man returned to the porch and waved the pistol, warning him he had better leave, according to the report.
The report says the man tried to fire a 'warning shot' in the opposite direction of Kendrick, but the gun jammed. He told officers Kendrick mocked him, saying "see, you don't even know how to use that weapon."
The man reloaded his gun, and said "I gave you a warning round, this next one is going through you if you don't leave."
The man said Kendrick replied that he would not leave without the children. At that point, the man picked up a small log and threw it at Kendrick, which hit his car.
At that point, the police report says Kendrick reached into his vehicle. The man instructed him again to just leave, but Kendrick ignored him, according to the report.
Then, the man fired one shot at Kendrick, hitting him in the chest. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The report says the man was shaken by what just happened, and went inside, put the pistol on a shelf near the front door, and locked his door until authorities arrived.
He was later questioned by officers. Again, as of Tuesday, he faces no charges in the incident.
We're working to learn more details about this story.
A relative of Kendrick's has reached out to our newsroom, claiming the details in the police report are inaccurate.
We checked some of her claims with Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood on Wednesday. He told us there is "no evidence to substantiate her claims."
Chitwood added that he does not anticipate any charges to be filed in this case.