Athens man 'expected to survive' gunshot to face, UGA student facing surgery after downtown shooting

UGA student Angelina Norton

By Joe Johnson

An Athens man on Tuesday reportedly continued to survive and a University of Georgia student was recovering after they were shot Saturday outside of a downtown bar.

According to Athens-Clarke County police, officers were dispatched at 12:12 a.m. to investigate a reported fight outside Tropical Bar on West Clayton Street, where they found 30-year-old Rossel Bernal of Athens lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the face, and 22-year-old UGA student Angelina Norton who’d been shot in the hand.

The suspected shooter, Corey Treyvon Austin, 24, of Lawrenceville was quickly arrested after a witness pointed him out to officers as he ran across the street, according to police.

On Tuesday, ACCPD Public Information Officer Lt. Shaun Barnett said he could only confirm that Bernal “was expected to survive," but had no further information about the victim’s condition.

Corey Treyvon Austin

Norton, who indicates in her Facebook profile that she studies consumer economics at UGA, posted the following update to her social media page:

“As many of you already know, late Friday night/early Saturday morning I was shot in my right hand in downtown Athens. I was not the intended target. The bullet went through my hand, leaving both internal and external damage.

“At this point, I will be needing at least two surgeries which begin sometime (hopefully) this week. The timeline for following procedures is something that we cannot fully predict at this time. My first surgery will be to clean the wound and remove any bone fragments from my hand. At this point, it appears that any following surgeries will be to reconstruct/replace structure in my index finger and knuckle.

“I hope it brings comfort to my family, friends, and even strangers to know I have not been alone in this process at all. When the incident occurred, I had two of my best friends by my side, even in the ER. I’ve had friends visiting me every day from both Athens and Dacula. My family has been in constant communication and are getting updates any time we learn something new.

“I have received an overwhelming amount of support in the last 48 hours. From my friends making a GoFundMe to the 500+ messages I have received, please know that your support is not going unnoticed.

We will continue to provide updates as we receive them.

I love you all,

Angelina”

According to police Bernal appeared to have been Austin’s intended target after they got into an altercation that escalated into the Athens man being shot in the face, and in which Norton was an innocent bystander when she was shot.

Police charged Austin with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies.

As of Tuesday afternoon, he continued to be held at the county jail without bail being set.