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Suffering from Alzheimer’s, Ga. man fatally shot

By RAY HENRY,
Last Updated: Saturday, December 07, 2013

CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — 

(AP) The last walk that Ronald Westbrook took began as early as 1 a.m. when he slipped unnoticed from his North Georgia home with his two dogs.

It ended three hours later when Westbrook, a 72-year-old who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, knocked in the dark on a stranger’s door last month. Police said a man inside that home, 34-year-old Joe Hendrix, got a .40-caliber handgun, went outside to investigate and shot Westbrook in a horrible mistake.

The unlikely collision between two strangers one deeply confused, another perceiving a threat illustrates both the difficulties that caregivers face in keeping loved ones with Alzheimer’s safe and the consequences of miscalculation in a state that celebrates its gun culture.  Full story:

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/ap/2013/12/07/Suffering_from_Alzheimer_s_Ga_man_fatally_shot.html

 

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