Tenant arrested in shooting; victim was the apartment complex manager, residents say

The manager of Northside Gardens Apartments in Warner Robins was shot Tuesday by a tenant, other apartment complex residents say.

Lawrence David Northcutt, 71, has been charged with aggravated assault, according to a Warner Robins police news release. He lives in apartment number 311, which is next to the apartment complex office, according to a Houston County sheriff’s arrest and booking report.

Northcutt is accused of shooting 41-year-old Wendy Robinson, who other tenants say is the manager of the apartment complex located less than a mile from Northside High School.

Robinson was shot multiple times in the abdomen area about 10:15 a.m., the release said. She underwent surgery at the Medical Center, Navicient Health, and was listed in stable condition late Tuesday afternoon.

The crime scene stretched from one apartment building to another where tenants said Robinson fled for her life after being fired upon and collapsed in the grass.

Tommy Perkins, who lives in the apartment complex, said he learned about the shooting from his fiancee.

Robinson may have been trying to evict Northcutt, Perkins said.

“He didn’t take that really kindly, so he kind of told her to get away from his door,” Perkins said. “But she didn’t, and he thought she was trying to barge in.

“So he told her to hold on for a minute, and when he came back out, he had a shotgun, and from what I was told, she tried to take off and run, and he shot her,” Perkins said.

Another resident said she found a bleeding Robinson collapsed on the grass outside apartment 301 after she heard about three to five gunshots.

“It’s just real, real sad, you know, that we’ve just got a lot of crime like this going on in the community,” Perkins said. “And I just think we should just try to pull together as a community and just try to make things better around here.”

Tuesday afternoon, Warner Robins police detectives and a crime scene investigator were seen going in and out of Northcutt’s apartment.

Yellow crime scene markers dotted the grass in the front and side of the adjacent building where Robinson had fled across the lawn.

Northcutt was being held Tuesday without bond at the Houston County Detention Center, jail records show.

Jennifer Parson, spokeswoman for Warner Robins police, declined to release additional information.

“To protect the integrity of our investigation, the information in the press release is all I'm able to release at this time,” Parson said via an email.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Tenant arrested in shooting; victim was the apartment complex manager, residents say."