A 19 year old man charged in a shooting last year at the Austin Bottom Lake Boat Access Area was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday.
James Paris Goff entered a plea to one count of reckless endangerment and aggravated assault and received a two year sentence to serve. He is to report to jail on August 4. Goff must also make restitution of $1,575 to a victim in the case.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, the incident occurred on Monday evening, May 11, 2015 after Goff and some friends arrived by boat to the Austin Bottom Lake Boat Access Area. While there, Goff and another man got into a fight. After the altercation, Goff left the area by boat but returned later in a vehicle armed with a handgun. Goff again confronted the same man with whom he had fought earlier and showed him the gun.
Goff then turned the gun on three other people who were leaving the area in an automobile and fired several rounds at them. One of the bullets penetrated the vehicle and struck the rear seat passenger in the back. The driver and front seat passenger were not hit.
After the shooting, Central Dispatch was notified and alerted the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. “We received a call at 7:36 p.m. from central dispatch that a man had been shot at the Austin Bottom Lake Boat Access Area. The shooter and victim had already left the scene prior to law enforcement’s arrival. We met officers of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department who responded for mutual aid or backup purposes. We then started an investigation into the shooting. DeKalb EMS was also summoned but they did not transport anyone because the victim was already gone. During the investigation, deputies and detectives from both the DeKalb and Putnam County Sheriff’s Departments were able to find the victim at a family member’s house in Cookeville. The victim was then taken to the hospital in Cookeville and later transported by ground ambulance to a medical facility in Nashville where he was treated and released. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Goff,” said Sheriff Ray.
The two original charges against Goff for aggravated assault were for his confrontation with the first victim and for wounding the other person in the shooting. The original reckless endangerment charges were for Goff’s putting the lives of the other two persons in the vehicle in danger by firing shots at them.
The names of the victims were not released.
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