Hurricane Irma frustration boils over as neighbor’s generator drives Georgia man nuts

Outside the south Georgia town of Douglas — near Broxton and not too from the lower reaches of the Ocmulgee River — a local man’s ire over Irma reached a flashpoint the other day. He opened fire into the air when he’d apparently had enough of a neighbor’s generator “running throughout the day,” a Thursday release from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office said. “Suffering through severe weather and blackouts … can bring out the best in our neighbors,” the sheriff’s write-up went on. “Unfortunately, it can also bring out the worst.” Someone called the law when a 59-year-old man who lives on Keven Adams Road “thought it would be a good idea,” officials said, “to fire a few gunshots in protest.” The release hints that alcohol may have been involved. “While speaking to the complainant,” the write-up added, “deputies heard another gunshot.” At a home nearby, the deputies met up with alleged shot-firer Steven Consado Gomez Jr. “He was upset because he was tired of hearing the complainant’s generator,” the release said. “He admitted to firing the gunshots as a reaction to his frustration.” It turned out that Gomez, a convicted felon, was on probation. He was jailed on firearm-possession charges.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Hurricane Irma frustration boils over as neighbor’s generator drives Georgia man nuts."