Man shot, beaten after mistakenly trying to enter his former home, police say

SNELLVILLE, Ga. - A man with a medical condition was chased, beaten, and shot after trying to open the door to his former home in Snellville, police say.

Snellville police say around 9 a.m. they got a 911 call of a burglary in progress at a home off Rockdale Circle. While responding, police say an officer spotted a man beating another man on the side of the road.

The officer immediately stopped and intervened. Once the officer separated the two men, police say he noticed the victim not only was battered and bruised, but also shot. The officer immediately applied a tourniquet and stabilized the man’s bleeding until medics arrived.

The man was rushed to the hospital where he received treatment and was later released.

Investigators say this all stemmed from a misunderstanding. The residents of the home thought the victim was breaking in and confronted the man, police say. They chased the man off the property and even out of the neighborhood, police say.

"We learned the male that got shot and beat used to live at the residence, and based on a medical condition, believed he was trying to enter his own home," the Snellville Police Department wrote on its Facebook page. "Force to enter was not used."

Police say the shooter faces aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm charges. The man seen beating the victim faces misdemeanor battery charges. Police did not release either of the suspects’ names.

Investigators say the victim had no criminal intent and was not a threat, since he was a half-mile away from the home when the violence occurred, so he will not face charges.

Both suspects were booked into the Gwinnett County Jail.