A fatal shooting of a 17-year-old has triggered an investigation of a local program whose mission was to serve 13- to 25-year-olds with special needs.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning launched the investigation into Tucker-based “My Buddy and Me” on Thursday after one of its caretakers was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
DECAL began the probe after receiving a complaint that the program had neither a valid license nor an exemption, spokesman Reg Griffin told AJC.com
Bond for 35-year-old caretaker Gerard Brister was set Thursday at $15,000.
The shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon in Roswell outside Mountain Motorsports on the 1200 block of Upper Hembree Road around 12:45 p.m.
Brister, of Brookhaven, was the caretaker for a group of teenagers and young men with special needs participating in a camping trip when one of the men accidentally shot one of the other participants, Roswell police said in a news release.
The victim, 17-year-old Zachary Chambless of Dunwoody, died on the scene, police said. The 21-year-old shooter has not been named.
Brister remains in the Fulton County Jail. His next court appearance is July 19.
Cox Media Group
