DAWNVILLE, Ga. — The man who set off Thursday night’s deadly shooting spree in Whitfield County spent most of last week in jail.
David Hartline, of Summerville, Ga., was arrested Monday after failing to show up in court, where he was scheduled to be a witness in a case, according to Chattooga deputies.
He was released from the Chattooga County Jail about 2 p.m. Wednesday, 25 hours before showing up drunk and armed at a birthday party for his ex-girlfriend’s daughter.
PDF: Initial incident report
Hartline, a registered sex offender, was turned away from the party but returned with a handgun and killed Chattanooga resident Edward “Buster” Manz III and Cleveland, Tenn., resident Kenneth Simonson, authorities said. Hartline’s ex-girlfriend Mindy Bullard, who is also Manz’s daughter and Simonson’s ex-wife, was shot but survived.
Word of the shootings dominated conversations in the small community Saturday.
“Everybody’s wanting reason out of chaos,” said Terry Hughes, manning the wares at his yard sale in Dawnville on Saturday. “You may know what went on, but you’ll never know what was going on in his head.”
Hartline died at the scene of at least two gunshot wounds that investigators believe were fired by Manz. At least five children hid in the attic and were unharmed.
Bullard was shot in the legs as she fled across her roof and broke both ankles when she tumbled off, but staff at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga and Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton said she was not listed at either hospital Saturday afternoon.
Whitfield County Coroner Bobbie Dixon said Bullard was “no-listed,” meaning hospitals were told not to release any information about her condition. Officials said Friday that Bullard’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ken Anderson said he did not know in which case Hartline had been set to testify. Attempts to reach Judge Kristina Graham and Sheriff John Everette were unsuccessful Saturday.
Friends remembered Simonson as a dedicated father who coached his two sons’ football team.
According to Hartline’s obituary, the 41-year-old was a building contractor with three children and four grandchildren. He was convicted of child molestation in 1999.
WAILING SIRENS
Sitting at his yard sale Saturday, Hughes said he and his wife were at their home on Dawnville Road next door to the fire station when sirens began wailing Thursday night. For most of the evening, he couldn’t even hear his television.
“For a person’s mind to flip like that over a birthday party — that just doesn’t make sense,” said Hughes.
At the sale with the Hughes was Jeffrey Painter, a student at Southeast Whitfield High School. He said his girlfriend was at the party and hid in the attic with the younger children. He said the family is having a tough time and his girlfriend “won’t stop crying.”
Attempts to reach Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood or a department spokesman were unsuccessful Saturday.
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