BURLINGTON, Ky. — A 51-year-old man was hospitalized Tuesday after he was shot during an altercation in the parking lot of Burlington's public library, the Boone County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office said deputies responded to the Boone County Public Library at 1786 Burlington Pike on March 12 for a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found a 51-year-old tow truck driver, with a gunshot wound to the leg. The man was taken to UC Medical Center but has since been released, the sheriff's office said.
Samad A. Green, 58, was charged with one count of assault and one count of robbery, among other charges.
The victim told the sheriff's office that he was in the parking lot when Green walked out of the library, and he offered Green to get his personal items out of the vehicle he was towing. The sheriff's office said Green grabbed a "steak knife" from his 2013 Ford Escape, cut the strap covering the driver's side tire and unsuccessfully attempted to drive off. The victim called 911 during this "escalating situation," the sheriff's office said.
On the 911 call, the sheriff's office said the victim is heard telling Green not to approach him with the knife and then the victim told dispatchers he had a gun. Green confronted the victim with the knife, stabbed him in the right hand, and the two struggled for the gun before Green took it from the victim. Green then fired the gun multiple times striking the victim.
The sheriff's office said Green still had the gun when deputies arrived, but he was detained without incident.
The sheriff's office said Green admitted he was "probably in the wrong."
"I'm probably in the wrong," Green told detectives. "I shot a man. I didn't have the right to, but he didn't have the right to pull a gun on me."
Green also claimed he only fired one shot at the victim, but three shell casings were found at the scene, the sheriff's office said.
Green is currently being held at the Boone County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $250,000 cash bond.
