Cartersville DFCS Shooting Suspects Arrested

Cartersville, GA -- Cartersville police have arrested and charged two people in connection with the shooting outside the Division of Family and Children's Services office. 

Stephen Jamal Herring, 26, of Cartersville is charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, criminal trespassing and sale of marijuana, Cartersville police said Tuesday. 

Marietta resident Amanda Nicole Young, 31, is charged with false report of a crime, obstruction, party to a crime of aggravated assault and harboring a fugitive. 

Police were dispatched to a call around 2:15 p.m. Monday of a shooting at the DFCS office at 47 Brook Drive. Officers from the Cartersville Police Department and deputies with the Bartow County Sheriff's Office arrived at the location and quickly secured the scene. 

Law enforcement officials determined the victim, Alex Flores, as well as the suspect left the scene of the shooting. Police were able to track down Flores at the Cartersville Medical Center where he was being treated for a gunshot wound to his leg and was in stable condition, police said.  

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Through interviews, police eventually identified Herring as the shooting suspect and Young as his alleged co-conspirator. A search of an apartment near the scene of the crime unearthed a firearm police believe was used in the shooting, Cartersville police added. 

With the help of the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force and the Cobb County Fugitive Task Force, both suspects were quickly located and arrested. 

Young and Herring were booked into the Bartow County Jail late Monday evening. 

"This incident could not have been resolved so swiftly without the assistance of multiple agencies and the citizens of the community," Cartersville police said.

Georgia Department of Human Services Commissioner Robyn A. Crittenden and DFCS Director Bobby Cagle issued a joint statement Monday evening concerning the events. 

Cagle and Crittenden said the Cartersville office was placed on lockdown for nearly an hour while police pursued the shooting suspect.

"We are proud of our staff, who acted appropriately and utilized their training for the response to active shooter events," the statement reads in part. "It is due to their quick thinking in securing the lobby and moving customers and staff to the interior of the building that no others were harmed."

Over the next few days, the state agency will send counselors to help local staff members deal "with the trauma of witnessing an act of violence such as this, and we will remain committed to providing training and resources that keep our employees and customers safe." 

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Photo: from left, Amanda Nicole Young and Stephen Jamal Herring. Credit: Bartow County Jail