A Polk County man was honored over the weekend by family and friends in a memorial service after he died in a tragic shooting incident. No one could have predicted what happened on a fateful Sunday afternoon in early December that hasn’t just brought pain to one family, but many.
On the afternoon of December 4 – less than 24 hours after he had watched Dalton Dover at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville – Adam Griffin’s life would be cut short.
Griffin was honored by more than 150 fellow bikers in a procession around the county following services on Sunday afternoon.
Now Polk County Police have provided further details on how his life came to a sad end.
Griffin, 42, died not long after Emergency Medical personnel from AdventHealth Redmond EMS arrived on the scene at 2711 Esom Hill Road.
The first officers on the scene arrived after they received a 911 call from the residence to report shots were fired and found a confused and unexpected shooting took place. Griffin was transported by EMS as soon as they arrived, but his injuries at the time were too severe for him to survive, and he passed away before a LifeFlight helicopter could arrive and carry him off to a hospital in Atlanta.
The man who fired the shots during this time had returned home, secured his weapon, went to the end of his driveway, and ultimately turned himself in to Polk County Police.
In a release provided to Polk Today, investigators noted that Wesley Garmon cooperated fully in the investigation that was now underway. He turned over physical evidence including his gun and clothing and spoke with detectives several times throughout the course of the following weeks.
The same was reported by Polk County Police in regard to a witness to the entire set of events that ended with shots being fired. Crick Fincher additionally provided full cooperation with police, and his and Garmon’s stories both lined up.
According to the accounts, Polk County Police were able to determine a timeline of the events leading up to the shooting, which began with a trespassing incident that occurred earlier in the day on December 4.
Detectives explained that a pair of Griffin’s family members were caught trespassing on hunting club property of which Garmon is a member earlier in the day, and he confronted the pair confronted them at gunpoint and called 911. The pair fled from the property before police arrived and weren’t identified until later when they confirmed the incident occurred.
Griffin became aware of the incident, and then called his friend Crick Fincher upset because of what happened, and was looking for Garmon.
“When Crick arrived home, he observed Adam Griffin standing in front of his house holding a shotgun in one hand and a beer can in the other,” the release stated. “By this time, Adam had identified the male he was looking for as Wesley Garmon.”
The pair could hear Garmon cutting wood outside of his residence, and an angered Griffin wanted to confront Garmon on his property. Fincher told police at this point, he had never seen Griffin so angry and “had never seen Adam that way.”
Fincher told police that Griffin began walking through the woods toward the back of Garmon’s house from his home on Esom Hill Road, and a trail camera picked up the pair around 3:58 p.m. The photo police referenced showed Griffin carrying a shotgun and leading the way toward the back of the Garmon household.
“Crick stated that he convinced Adam to turn back and return to 2711 Esom Hill Road,” the release stated. “Crick tells Adam he will call Wesley and have him come speak to them on neutral ground.”
Griffin agreed and promised to only speak with Garmon about the trespassing incident that happened earlier “and that he would not involve the shotgun.”
Fincher told investigators he then got Garmon’s number and made a call. Garmon confirmed that he got the call to come over to talk about the incident.
He walked through the woods, and was seen by the same trail camera as he headed toward Fincher’s residence at 2711 Esom Hill Road around 4:05 p.m.
Less than a minute later, Fincher and Garmon are reported to be shaking hands on Fincher’s* front porch. This is when Griffin stormed out of the front door with the shotgun he promised to leave inside.
*(Editor’s Note: I originally had this information typed incorrectly, it was a mistake on my part and has been corrected. -KtE)
Fincher told police that Garmon’s eyes grew large and the “look on his face changed” as the barrel of the shotgun came over Fincher’s shoulder, pointed directly at Garmon. Griffin began to scream at Garmon, who pulled out his handgun and a struggle ensued.
Griffin at some point during this struggle got the upper hand and placed Garmon a chokehold from behind.
Garmon reported to police that it was at this point he fired “multiple shots from his handgun in self-defense” until Griffin released him.
“Once Wesley got back to his feet, he ran away back toward his house with a cell phone in his left hand and blood on his right hand,” the report stated. The same trail camera picked up this photo of Garmon fleeing just two minutes after he went by with the expectations of talking out the issue with his neighbor.
During this time, Garmon calls 911 for the second time that day to report he had been attacked and shot Griffin and fled the scene in fear for his safety, and ultimately turned himself into the police.
Polk County Police have ruled the incident to be self-defense and have no plans to continue any further investigation at this time or charge Garmon with any wrongdoing.
Polk County Police hoped that a full release explaining the events that occurred on December 4 which ended with the death of Griffin, will bring some closure to a community that is still struggling to understand what happened and lead to a greater understanding throughout the county shocked by what occurred.
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