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BOGART - An Oconee County man shot and killed a motorcyclist who followed his daughters home from an Athens department store Monday night, according to police.
Richard Harold "Ricky" Gear, 45, claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot Bryan Joseph "B.J." Mough about 6:45 p.m. as the 21-year-old Winder man drove his motorcycle past Gear's house on the western edge of Bogart, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said.
The daughters, ages 17 and 19, had called their father on a cell phone to tell him they were being followed, Berry said, and as they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of his driveway with a pistol, Berry said.
Mough drove past the house, turned around and made another pass, and Gear fired the .40-caliber semiautomatic gun two or three times, shooting Mough once in the back, the sheriff said.
Gear called 911 after the shooting, as did neighbors, and sheriff's deputies arrested Gear at his home on a murder charge, Berry said.
"He made an unspecified claim of self-defense," Berry said.
An ambulance took Mough to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m., Berry said.
Oconee sheriff's investigators spent all day Tuesday trying to detail the events that led to the shooting.
Gear's daughters and Mough, whose name is pronounced mau, apparently left the parking lot of Target, 3065 Atlanta Highway, about the same time Monday night, Berry said. Tempers flared as the drivers headed west toward Bogart.
Gear's daughters told investigators that Mough cut them off, they made obscene hand gestures at him and Mough ran into their car after they crossed the Oconee County line, the sheriff said.
"There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities don't yet know who initiated contact.
"We've got questions about how it happened," he said.
Investigators canvassed Target for witnesses and viewed surveillance videos but found nothing to indicate Mough met the girls inside the store or in the parking lot, the sheriff said.
Authorities could add more charges, Berry said, but aren't rushed because Gear can't bond out of jail on a murder charge.
"We're having discussions with the district attorney, and there are a lot of leads to follow up on," the sheriff said. "We're going to do the investigation our way and at our speed."
Many who live in the tight-knit neighborhood near the corner of Gear Road and Osceola Avenue are related, and they did not want to discuss the murder allegation Tuesday afternoon. Some neighbors said the Gear family has lived in Bogart for generations and is well respected.
"Rick's parents are great friends of ours, and if you knocked on every door from here to the end of Bogart, everyone will tell you that they're the most wonderful people," Woodie Prince said.
Prince's husband, David Prince, said he didn't know Richard Gear as well, but knows him well enough to know that "Ricky is a wonderful father to those girls."
"It's horrible what happened to that boy, and everybody in Bogart is feeling and praying for (Mough) and his family," David Prince said. "We're all praying for Ricky, too, and knowing him the way I know him, he'll blame himself the rest of his life for what happened."
Mough, who lived in the Lincoln Park subdivision north of Winder, had been employed at a Target in Buford, according to Brittany Williams, Mough's former girlfriend. He was hoping to transfer to the Athens Target and went to the store for an interview Monday, she said.
Mough, who also worked as a freelancer with Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, was excited about buying his first motorcycle last month, Williams said.
"B.J. was really a good kid," said Williams, who dated Mough for two years. "All day yesterday I was dying to call him. Now it's too late."
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022708
BOGART - An Oconee County man shot and killed a motorcyclist who followed his daughters home from an Athens department store Monday night, according to police.
Richard Harold "Ricky" Gear, 45, claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot Bryan Joseph "B.J." Mough about 6:45 p.m. as the 21-year-old Winder man drove his motorcycle past Gear's house on the western edge of Bogart, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said.
The daughters, ages 17 and 19, had called their father on a cell phone to tell him they were being followed, Berry said, and as they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of his driveway with a pistol, Berry said.
Mough drove past the house, turned around and made another pass, and Gear fired the .40-caliber semiautomatic gun two or three times, shooting Mough once in the back, the sheriff said.
Gear called 911 after the shooting, as did neighbors, and sheriff's deputies arrested Gear at his home on a murder charge, Berry said.
"He made an unspecified claim of self-defense," Berry said.
An ambulance took Mough to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m., Berry said.
Oconee sheriff's investigators spent all day Tuesday trying to detail the events that led to the shooting.
Gear's daughters and Mough, whose name is pronounced mau, apparently left the parking lot of Target, 3065 Atlanta Highway, about the same time Monday night, Berry said. Tempers flared as the drivers headed west toward Bogart.
Gear's daughters told investigators that Mough cut them off, they made obscene hand gestures at him and Mough ran into their car after they crossed the Oconee County line, the sheriff said.
"There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities don't yet know who initiated contact.
"We've got questions about how it happened," he said.
Investigators canvassed Target for witnesses and viewed surveillance videos but found nothing to indicate Mough met the girls inside the store or in the parking lot, the sheriff said.
Authorities could add more charges, Berry said, but aren't rushed because Gear can't bond out of jail on a murder charge.
"We're having discussions with the district attorney, and there are a lot of leads to follow up on," the sheriff said. "We're going to do the investigation our way and at our speed."
Many who live in the tight-knit neighborhood near the corner of Gear Road and Osceola Avenue are related, and they did not want to discuss the murder allegation Tuesday afternoon. Some neighbors said the Gear family has lived in Bogart for generations and is well respected.
"Rick's parents are great friends of ours, and if you knocked on every door from here to the end of Bogart, everyone will tell you that they're the most wonderful people," Woodie Prince said.
Prince's husband, David Prince, said he didn't know Richard Gear as well, but knows him well enough to know that "Ricky is a wonderful father to those girls."
"It's horrible what happened to that boy, and everybody in Bogart is feeling and praying for (Mough) and his family," David Prince said. "We're all praying for Ricky, too, and knowing him the way I know him, he'll blame himself the rest of his life for what happened."
Mough, who lived in the Lincoln Park subdivision north of Winder, had been employed at a Target in Buford, according to Brittany Williams, Mough's former girlfriend. He was hoping to transfer to the Athens Target and went to the store for an interview Monday, she said.
Mough, who also worked as a freelancer with Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, was excited about buying his first motorcycle last month, Williams said.
"B.J. was really a good kid," said Williams, who dated Mough for two years. "All day yesterday I was dying to call him. Now it's too late."
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022708
