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Dispute between neighbors ends in deadly shooting in West Goshen Twp.

Published  August 8, 2017 5:13pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

WEST GOSHEN TWP., PA (WTXF) - Police in West Goshen Township say a dispute between neighbors led to a deadly shooting early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to the 300 block of Box elder Drive for a reported shooting just around 1 a.m.

Officers arrived to find 51-year-old George Brooks Jennings suffering from a gunshot wound, and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Officers immediately took 51-year-old Clayton P. Carter III into custody following the shooting. Carter was taken to the West Goshen Police Department to be arraigned on charges including criminal homicide.

Police say officers had responded to a dispute around 7:50 p.m. Monday night between the two men involving cursing and a video recording in the backyard. Officers resolved the dispute and left the scene.

A few hours later, around 1 a.m. Tuesday, police say the two men were involved in another dispute. Clayton claimed Jennings was shining a light into his eyes while he was outside. In response, police say Clayton pulled his car onto Jennings' lawn and turned on his high beams.

Clayton retrieved a .380 caliber handgun from his home, and confronted Jennings again.

Police say Clayton then shot Jennings once in the head while Jennings was standing on his own property, knocking him to the ground. Then, Jennings stood over the victim and shot Jennings a second time in the head.

Clayton told police in a statement that Jennings had a knife, but say Clayton had no injuries and did not call police or render aid after the shooting.

Police say multiple neighbors heard the gunshots and reported the timing gap between the first and second shot, and the victim's wife told police she looked outside after the first shot and say Clayton fire the second shot.

Investigators recovered two shell casings, a gun, and a knife at the scene. One of the shell casings was on Clayton's property, and the other was on the victim's.

"This killing leaves a wife without a husband, a little boy without his father, and a community in shock in mourning," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said of the incident.