Sons shoot parents in 2 incidents, police say

[Repost]

The following appears courtesy of the 2/21/00 online edition of The
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution newspaper:

Sons shoot parents in 2 incidents, police say

A father is killed in Polk County, and a Chamblee couple is wounded over
the
weekend.

Rick Badie and Peter Kent - Staff
Journal-Constitution

Monday February 21, 2000

Two separate incidents in which young men shot their parents resulted in
one
death over the weekend, police said.

In Polk County, Curtis A. Ridgeway, 21, of Silver Creek, allegedly shot
his
parents Saturday night, fatally wounding his father. Polk County police
were
called around 9:30 to the Dunn Road residence, just north of Cedartown,
where
Alan Chris Ridgeway, 46, and his 44-year-old wife, Jeannie, live with
their
son.

And in Chamblee, Brian Hess, 27, shot his parents around 9:30 Saturday
night
after a "verbal altercation" at a house they shared at 3591 Keswick
Drive,
Chamblee investigator William Pollack said Sunday. They survived. Hess
is
charged with two counts of aggravated battery.

Investigators Sunday declined to give details of a motive for the
Ridgeway
shooting, saying only that it was a family dispute involving financial
dealings.

Alan and Jeannie Ridgeway were shot with a 12-gauge shotgun by their
son,
according to Polk County Police Capt. Ron Thomas. The father was dead
when
officers arrived.

Thomas said Jeannie Ridgeway was wounded in the upper torso and taken to
Floyd
Medical Center in Rome, where she remains in stable condition. An
autopsy was
performed on Alan Ridgeway Sunday morning, but results were unavailable
late
Sunday.

Two witnesses --- a family member and a friend of the Ridgeway family
--- in
another part of the house heard the shots and fled until it was safe to
return.

The suspect called 911 and said he shot his parents, said GBI Special
Agent
J.P. Foster, who's investigating the case along with Polk County
Criminal
Investigator Ricky Clark. The mother also called to report the shooting,
Foster
said.

Curtis Ridgeway is charged with murder for his father's death and
aggravated
assault for the wounding of his mother. He is being held in the Polk
County
jail.

Meanwhile, Pollack of Chamblee said that Delbert and Darlene Hess were
shot in
the head with a .22-caliber rifle. Delbert Hess was listed in stable
condition
Sunday at Grady Memorial Hospital; Darlene Hess was treated for her
wound and
released from the hospital.

Brian Hess was scheduled to appear in DeKalb magistrate court at 8:30
Sunday,
Pollack said.