Police: 85-Year-Old Shocks Fishing Tournament C...

Dozens were reportedly in attendance at a Georgia fishing tournament run by Troy Eaton, when horrified onlookers saw his 85-year-old father walk into the bait shop on family property where he allegedly shot his son on Friday evening

Published Time: 16.07.2024 - 00:31:20 Modified Time: 16.07.2024 - 00:31:20

Dozens were reportedly in attendance at a Georgia fishing tournament run by Troy Eaton, when horrified onlookers saw his 85-year-old father walk into the bait shop on family property where he allegedly shot his son on Friday evening.

Covington police, who were dispatched just before 7 p.m., Friday, July 12, said Troy Eaton was “deceased inside a building on the property” when they arrived and that the alleged shooter, Wayne Eaton, “was still on scene” and later booked into Newton County Jail and charged with murder, per a brief press release.

Tiffany Eaton Cartledge, who identified herself as Troy’s daughter, wrote on a Facebook post that “Papa Troy” was an active presence in his grandchildren’s lives who would “give until he had nothing left to give.”

“He was as fair as the word can get and he loved with his whole heart,” she added of the 60-year-old, who she said was an integral part of his small town Covington, Ga., community.

Cartledge said her father “worked hours on end to keep Lakeview Drive Tournament Lakes” — where he would ultimately be fatally shot — running in honor of his mother.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Covington Police Department for additional information about the ongoing investigation, but the department declined to comment.

Over the weekend, the police department told WSB-TV Atlanta that there was surveillance footage and many witnesses to the shooting. They did not discuss a possible motive.

“There’s a lot of confusion right now,” Ethan Sanders, Troy’s grandson, told the outlet. “Nobody really knows what is going to happen.”

The elder Eaton’s booking records were not available online Monday, but citing online records, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported over the weekend that Eaton was booked into Newton jail.

It was not immediately clear if the elder Eaton had obtained a lawyer or entered a plea.

His granddaughter did not mention him in the post about her father.

“Words cannot describe the pain or how utterly heartbroken anyone is that ever knew him,” Cartledge wrote in the Facebook post. “I keep telling myself that this is just the worst nightmare I could have, but then I don't wake up from it.”