Armed citizen stops 3 home invaders
They came in shooting to kill.

Originally ran here as:
"Augusta gunfight injures 2, results in charges against 3"
By Sylvia Cooper
Augusta Chronicle Staff Writer

Web posted Wednesday, May 2, 2001
 WJBF-TV video

A gun battle rocked an upscale west Augusta apartment complex early Tuesday when a resident returned shots at men who had kicked in his door and opened fire, according to Richmond County sheriff's investigators.

Leon Brown is facing charges in an area shooting that occurred early Tuesday.

``One blood trail was from the victim when he was brought out, and we had a separate blood trail,'' Investigator Charlena Graham said. ``So we knew there was a second person that was shot.''

According to a written report of the incident, police were called about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to an apartment on Walden Hills Court off Alexander Drive, where Gerald Travis Mance, 27, told them three men had kicked in his front door and fired several rounds into his apartment. Bullets struck his brother Curtis Mance, 29, several times.

Maj. Ken Autry gave the following account of what occurred next:

Curtis Mance, who was sleeping in a front bedroom, yelled to alert his brother, who was asleep in a back bedroom with his girlfriend. Gerald Mance grabbed a handgun, came out and shot one intruder several times, causing him to drop his .44-caliber Magnum pistol, which police recovered at the scene.

After the shooting, Lewis Bernard Brown, 26, of the 1400 block of Mauge Street, was dropped off at MCG. Investigator Graham said the department had instructed the hospital to be on the lookout for patients with gunshot wounds. Mr. Brown had several.

An alert hospital employee got the tag number and a description of the vehicle that dropped the victim off, enabling officers to trace it to a Dayton Street address. There, officers arrested Jerome Jordan, 19, of the 3600 block of Dayton Street, and Leon Brown, 30, of the 2800 block of Cranbrook Drive.

Jerome Jordan is facing charges in an area shooting that occurred early Tuesday.

Mr. Jordan and Leon Brown were taken to jail and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and burglary. Leon Brown had outstanding warrants for not appearing in court on a misdemeanor fraud charge.

Warrants have been issued for Lewis Bernard Brown on the aggravated assault, firearm possession and burglary charges, Maj. Autry said.

Investigators did not immediately know whether the Browns are related. Court documents show that they both have criminal records. According to Richmond County Superior Court records:

Leon Brown's criminal record dates to 1988 and includes charges of robbery by intimidation, theft by receiving stolen property, theft by taking a motor vehicle, being a party to a crime of motor-vehicle theft, shoplifting and criminal trespass. He was charged with robbery by intimidation and theft by receiving and sent to prison in 1992.

Lewis Bernard Brown's criminal record dates to 1993 and includes charges of robbery by force, probation violations and obstruction. He was sent to Telfair State Prison in March 1997.

Mr. Jordan was charged with simple battery in 1999 and received probation.

Staff Writer Johnny Edwards contributed to this article. Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228.

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