The teenage son of Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine shot and wounded a 59-year-old man Sunday while hunting on a North Georgia preserve.
The victim was hit with 30 pellets in his right leg. Oxendine, the state’s insurance commissioner since 1995, was hunting with his teenage sons at the Northwest Georgia Quail Preserve, co-owned by Delos “Dee” Yancey III, who is CEO of State Mutual Insurance Co., based in Rome.
Quoted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Wednesday, Oxendine said, “I still believe in hunting and I still believe in guns. I still will hunt and my family will still hunt.”
A preliminary report from the Department of Natural Resources lists the victim as Russell M. Robertson, Jr., 59, of Chickamauga, Ga. Oxendine said Robertson is “a longtime friend” and an employee of Walker County, where the shooting took place. According to the report, Oxendine’s son shot Robertson about 4:15 p.m. Sunday when Oxendine and other members of his party flushed a quail. The bird flew over the party and toward a group of observers about 30 yards away. The report says the four hunters all fired at the bird.
The DNR report says a 14-year-old accidentally shot Robertson in the right leg, but does not name the boy. Late Wednesday afternoon, Oxendine’s campaign confirmed to the Atlanta Journal Constituion that one of his sons was the shooter. The Oxendine campaign said the boy is 13. Oxendine said his son has not had gun safety training.
Robertson was treated for pellet wounds in Rome. A DNR agent interviewed Robertson at the hospital. DNR is continuing its investigation.