Sheriff: Spalding County detention officer shot in head by teenage daughter

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Amanda Moore (Courtesy: Spalding County Sheriff's Office)

A Spalding County detention officer was shot in the head in what appears to be a domestic dispute with her 16-year-old daughter, authorities said Thursday.

Amanda Moore, 34, was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center Wednesday afternoon. She is surrounded by loved ones and colleagues who continue to pray for her recovery.

"She is in pretty grave condition. We got updated a little while ago. She is alive, she has suffered a couple of strokes this morning and she is in very bad condition,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix told FOX 5’s Portia Bruner Thursday afternoon.

"Her father, Sergeant Martin, is a deputy here, too. The two of them had lunch together just three hours before the shooting happened. It's just heartbreaking to watch her grow up and work so hard to get where she is now. She was getting ready to go to Mandate training to be on the streets as one of my deputies," said the Sheriff, whose known Deputy Moore since she was a little girl.

The incident happened just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the deputy's home on Ethridge Mill Road.

Moore's 16-year-old daughter was arrested shortly after the shooting as she walked calmly down the street. The sheriff told Bruner he did not know who the victim was at the time that he and one of his deputies made the arrest.

"She was very calm and she didn't put up a fight. She didn't say anything--just very stoic. She didn't have the gun. She had left that at the house," said Dix. "After we arrested her, I started getting calls that I needed to get to the deputy's house,"

The sheriff said Moore adopted the teen in a previous marriage and raised her, along with her 11-year-old son, who was home at the time of the shooting.

The detention officer’s son ran to the next-door neighbor for help.

"They are a married couple. He is a firefighter and she is a nurse, so as he called 911 and described the suspect who was walking down the street, they both went to the house to find Amanda and rendered aid. I'm certain their actions are the reason wine she still alive today and has a chance to live," said Sheriff Dix.

The sheriff said Moore is a detention officer who was off-duty at the time. She started at the sheriff's office as a clerk and learned the ropes until she could become a detention officer and was looking forward to getting more training," said Dix.

“This is a difficult time for everyone involved, and we are asking for prayers of healing and strength for this family in the coming days,” Dix added.