MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release                                                 May 16, 2016

                                Weekend Domestic Incident

Sheriff Jimmy Harris states as follows:

            On Saturday May 14th the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a possible stabbing and shooting at a residence on County Road 51 in Fort Payne. When deputies arrived they found Matthew Lucas, 33 of Gadsden with stab wounds. Lucas was then taken to DeKalb Regional Medical Center by the DeKalb Ambulance Service, and then flown to Erlanger Hospital. Horace Whittaker, 40 of Gadsden was found in Collinsville in his vehicle with gunshot wounds, he was then flown to Huntsville Hospital. Both Lucas and Whittaker are in stable condition. Whittaker is the estranged husband of the female owner of the residence, and this will be investigated as a domestic violence incident. This is still an ongoing investigation that will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for review of pending charges.

            Sheriff Harris says “this is a tragic incident that has occurred and we are glad that they are in stable condition. I would like to thank the deputies, investigators and Collinsville Police Department for the great job they did on this case.”