SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. -- A local restaurant owner is under arrest after a shooting that actually left him with a gunshot wound.
The Social Circle Police Department said it happened at his restaurant and spiraled out of control following an altercation.
It happened over the weekend at Sycamore Street Pizzeria. The restaurant owner claimed to be the victim.
But police said the investigation revealed something else.
It was a regular Saturday night at the restaurant in the small city of Social Circle when police said the shootout happened inside.
"I was just shocked," local Harriett Nunnally said.
Police believe it started from a verbal altercation. The owner, Roger Watters, was found in the parking lot suffering from a gunshot wound.
But witnesses told police he was shot in self-defense.
"According to witnesses, he produced a handgun, pulled it out, pointed it at several individuals in the restaurant," Police Chief Tyrone Oliver said.
Witnesses said the owner started firing shots at the ceiling and pointing the gun at several people. And one of them fired back.
"When there are firearms involved, you never know where the bullets are going to go," Chief Oliver said. "Everyone that was talked to were very frightened. They were in fear for their life."
Watters was treated for the gunshot wound and then arrested. 11Alive has learned that 11 people were inside at the time - an hour after the restaurant should have been closed.
People who live nearby said they were not surprised at what happened.
"Every other weekend there's always something that's going on there," resident Rick Griffith said.
People are wondering why anyone would pull a gun out and put other people's lives in danger.
"I guess in self-defense," Nunally said. "Defending yourself or your home - or your life or your loved ones."
Watters was charged with five counts of aggravated assault along with possession of a firearm during a crime.
