Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us.
I'm Frank Malloy.
And I'm Leah Johnson.
This is Eyewitness News at Six.
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Tonight...we bring you team coverage on a case that's attracted national attention... A fatal lunch hour shooting at a busy East Macon gas station.
Both the victim and the accused shooter were elderly... and both were disabled. They reportedly argued after the woman's car... collided with his wheelchair.
Tonight police say they're still looking for witnesses in the case...and they're calling it an open investigation.
Tom George and Kaitlyn Heck now bring you more on two lives that came together... In one sudden act of violence.
We begin tonight with Tom George..
Tom, what have you learned?
Frank and Leah, the attorney for 73-year old Frank Reeves, the man accused of shooting and killing Linda Hunnicutt at a Macon gas station Tuesday, says he and his family are remorseful, and are offering their condolences to Hunnicutt's family.
Attorney Veronica Brinson says Reeves is a disabled veteran and a family man.
She says he served in the U-S Army in Korea...during the 1970s.
He has one son....Frank Dixon....a community leader in Macon ...active in youth anti-violence programs.
One friend told us that Reeves' sisters took him every Sunday to St. Luke's Baptist Church in East Macon.
Reeves' lawyer says he suffered two strokes in the past few years.
And one neighbor says that could have escalated Tuesday's confrontation... because he may have had trouble communicating.
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65-year old Linda Hunnicutt was a wife, mother and grandmother...who moved to Jones County when she was three years old...
Family members I visited today told me they have always lived close to one another and been a tight-knit group.... She had two children... Five grandchildren... And a husband of 46 years.
They told us... Hunnicutt's first love and only job was taking care of her family.
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On 13WMAZ-dot-com today... We asked...in light of Tuesday's shooting... Do you feel safe at gas stations and convenience stores?
A majority... 67 percent of you say no.
33 percent of you...say yes you do feel safe at gas stations.
{***2-SHOT***}
{***FRANK***}
To vote now... Visit 13WMAZ.com.
Look for the question on the right side of the homepage.
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Bibb County Schools will soon install some carbon monoxide detectors... In response to a leak that sickened more than 40 people in Atlanta.
Those devices were ordered this week.
Director of Risk Management David Gowan says after a faulty furnace at an Atlanta Elementary School caused a massive evacuation earlier this week-- Bibb schools' maintenance department reviewed it's own furnaces.
It found many of the schools were safe because their furnaces are powered with electricity or located outside-- but he said 22 buildings have furnaces in-doors which are powered with gas.
Gowan says that's where carbon monoxide can build up, just like in the Atlanta case.
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Results for Georgia's High School Graduation Writing Tests have been released...
data from the state department of education shows more than 12 percent of Bibb County students did not pass.
The test is given for the first time in students' 11th grade year... and they have to pass it in order to graduate.
In Bibb...
Hutchings Career Center had the highest percentage of students to meet the state standard... At 90-point 2 percent.
Southwest High School has the lowest... At 78 percent.
Baldwin County High in Milledgeville had an 85.5 percent passing rate.
In Houston County... One school actually had a hundred percent passage rate.
That was The Houston County Career Center.
And in Monroe County... Mary Persons High had an 85.6 percent passage right.
To search by county and by school... we'll post the full document on our website.. 13WMAZ-dot-com.
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<Tonight... Mostly cloudy with isolated sprinkles. Lows in the upper 40s.
Friday... Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Highs in the mid 60s.
Friday Night... Mostly cloudy with lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.>
Thanks, John. We'll talk to you again a little later in this newscast.
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Gifts will be delivered to more than 3 dozen middle Georgia families by Christmas day.
But this time... Santa Claus... isn't the one making the stops.
Kids Yule Love will give toys to families who are struggling and need a little holiday cheer.
Nearly 100 state employees met to gather donations during a luncheon at the Secretary of State's office in Macon today.
Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen says the nonprofit organization has received more applications than ever this year.
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When Eyewitness News at 6 continues...
It looks like a full blown disaster...
but it's actually a state-of-the-art training facility for first responders.
a tour of the new Guardian Center...and how it will help emergency workers be ready...for whatever comes their way.. Next.
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Submerged houses.... a bus accident on an interstate road... and collapsed buildings...all in Perry?
They're actually simulations to train first responders.
Guardian Centers of Georgia...opened its doors to a U-S Marine emergency response unit and Georgia Search and Rescue.
They were the first events at the new training center.
Austin Lewis has a look.
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Dow Jones 13,074.04 +39.55 (0.30%)
Nasdaq 2,989.27 +15.57 (0.52%)
S&P 500 1,413.94 +4.66 (0.33%)
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It's not uncommon for high school kids to blow out a knee... But it's a tough road to get back to one hundred percent.
Suzanne Lawler introduces you to Taylor Thorpe.... She is a Howard Huskie who runs the plays as a point guard.
Her determination and true grit in the classroom and on the court makes her our Athlete of the Week.
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Olympic gold medal winner Vincent Hancock is off on another journey.
He's going to join 19 other folks for the season's first two International Shooting Sport Federation World Cups.
Hancock who is from Eatonton will go to training camps in Puerto Rico and Mexico this month.
The first Shotgun World cup happens in March... The second in April.
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The top pinch-hitter in the National League will return to the Braves bench next season..Reed Johnson signed a one-year contract that includes a club option for 2014.
The deal was announced two days before Johnson turns 36.
Atlanta acquired Johnson and pitcher Paul Maholm from the Chicago Cubs last July. Johnson hit a combined .290 with three home runs and 20 RBIs last season. He batted over .400 as a pinch hitter.
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<Tonight... Mostly cloudy with isolated sprinkles. Lows in the upper 40s.
Friday... Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Highs in the mid 60s.
Friday Night... Mostly cloudy with lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.>
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He's a veteran... Who Served others and gave of himself... in the U.S. Armed forces.
Now....an Atlanta man has found another way to serve and give...at his local Georgia Power office.
Jerry Carnes... With our sister station WXIA in Atlanta...has tonight's hero central report.
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Eyewitness News at Six continues...right after this look at what's ahead on the CBS Evening News.
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Christmas trees... lights... and other decorations are all the talk at one middle Georgia tourist attraction.
And the changes are just in time for a wave of visitors.
The Hay House in Macon is spruced up from top to bottom... with christmas trees... garland... and traditional items.
This year's theme is "Decades of Christmas."
Each room is decorated to represent a different time period... going back as far as the 1860s.
The Hay House is open for tours everyday until 4 p.m. Until December 31st.
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