Trash Collector Shot; Thought to Be a Dog
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NASHVILLE — A garbage collector making his early-morning rounds Friday apparently was mistaken for a dog and shot in the buttocks, police said.
John E. Brooks told officers he was sleepy and did not have on his glasses when he fired at David Merritt, 24, with a handgun.
“Mr. Brooks stated that he’d been having a lot of trouble with dogs turning over his garbage,” police Sgt. Luther Summers said. “When he heard the trash man emptying trash he shot him and said he thought it was a dog.”
Merritt was treated at a hospital and released. No charges were filed against Brooks.
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