PIKEVILLE – A Pike County man with Magoffin County ties was critically injured in a shooting in Pikeville early Sunday morning.
According to a statement released by the Pikeville Police Department on October 6, Pikeville 911 received a call at approximately 3:51 a.m. that morning reporting several shots being fired in the downtown parking garage area.
While officers were being dispatched to the parking garage, Pikeville Medical Center also called dispatch, advising they had a gunshot wound patient currently receiving treatment in the emergency room.
By the time police arrived at the parking garage, they were able to determine the incident occurred on the top floor, but all subjects involved had already left the scene.
After a brief investigation and interviews, police were able to take the suspect into custody, and Pikeville Police Department noted in the statement the incident was determined to be an isolated event and posed no further threats to the community.
Police reported that the gunshot victim was reported as being stable but in critical condition.
The victim’s family confirmed to the SI that the man who was taken to the emergency room and remains at Pikeville Medical Center is Avery Meadows, 21 years old, of Pikeville, but originally from Magoffin County.
Meadows’ family said he and a group of friends were leaving a party late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and going to one of their cars, parked in the parking garage. They saw the alleged suspect, whom they stated they did not know, damaging some cars in the garage, and noted the same person had previously been at the party they had just left, but he had left before them after getting into an altercation.
Reportedly, the group of friends had entered their vehicle when the suspect approached their car, with Meadows jumping out and trying to stop the person from causing any damage to his friend’s car. According to the family and the information they had been given, that is when the suspect allegedly shot Meadows five times, all hitting around the same location in his midsection.
Since he appeared to be bleeding out, the rest of the group pulled Meadows back into the car, applied pressure to his wounds, and rushed him to Pikeville Medical Center, according to the family.
He was in surgery for approximately 10 hours on Sunday, but as of Tuesday he was able to sit up and was coherent, but has a long road to recovery, the family said.
Another person with Meadows was also reportedly shot in the ankle, as well.
Reportedly, the suspect in the shooting is a juvenile, so court records and charges are not available to the public at this time.
The incident remains under investigation by the Pikeville Police Department. The SI will release further information as it becomes available regarding this case.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
