She was taken to South Georgia Medical Center where she was treated and released, McGraw said.

Man shot in leg

An early morning shooting near a local restaurant on Lake Park Road left one man shot in the leg.

At approximately 2:50 a.m., Anthony Tong, 24, arrived at South Georgia Medical Center to be treated for a gunshot wound in his leg.

“Valdosta Police Department officers responded to the hospital and spoke with Tong who stated he received the gunshot wound while in the parking lot of Andy’s Wings and Things,” McGraw said.

Police also went to the parking lot of the establishment, where they spoke to several people.

“It appears that a crowd was outside of the business when several shots went off with one striking Tong,” McGraw said.

No arrests had been reported Sunday. Police are following leads to identify the offender in this aggravated assault case.

Tong said Monday that he remains injured from the gunshot wound to his leg. The victim indicated that after he arrived at SGMC, medical personnel did an X-ray on his leg and cleaned the wound. However, Tong said he was released with the bullet still in his leg.

“They said they were sending me home because I was stable and the wound did not appear to be life-threatening,” Tong said. “Since I was in the emergency room and the bullet did not seem to pose a serious threat to my well-being, they referred me to a doctor who I was supposed to arrange an appointment with Monday morning.”

Tong said Monday that he made at least two attempts to schedule an appointment to get the bullet removed but was told the doctor was unavailable. He said he was told that the doctor had to be available for him to schedule an appointment.

In response, South Georgia Medical Center CEO James McGahee released the following statement: “By federal law, every patient who presents or is delivered to an emergency room has to be timely triaged and then appropriately medically assessed to determine if they have a life-threatening illness or injury. If so, they are to be treated by the proper specialists on call for the emergency room, assuming a proper specialist has privileges at the hospital and is currently on call. If a patient does not have a life-threatening illness or injury, the emergency room physician may treat the patient if he has the necessary training, and if the patient so desires; or the ER may arrange for the patient to be seen in a timely manner by a physician at the physician’s office. Patients frequently prefer to be seen by the physician of their choice. That is their prerogative.”

The three shooting cases are considered to be unrelated to one another.

Police ask anyone with information regarding these cases to contact Valdosta Police Department Investigations Unit, (229) 293-3145; or to call anonymously on the crime-tip line, (229) 293-3091.