Left inset: Durante Tolliver (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Durante Schofield (WKRC/YouTube). Background: The crime scene after Durante Tolliver allegedly shot and killed his son Durante Schofield in Buckhead, Ga., following an argument (WSB/YouTube).
A Georgia father arguing with his adult son over his slamming of a car door and a fight the victim was having with his girlfriend shot the 32-year-old a dozen times and killed him, police say.
Durante Tolliver, 54, is charged with murder for fatally shooting his son Durante Schofield last week at his Buckhead apartment complex in Fulton County, according to local ABC affiliate WSB.
Authorities told the outlet that Schofield crashed his SUV into the side of a building late Wednesday night and then called his girlfriend for help. She allegedly phoned police and made an anonymous tip about the crash, then drove Schofield back to his apartment.
The couple began arguing once they got inside and the woman called Tolliver to come over to help calm Schofield down, local NBC affiliate WXIA reports. Police were also called to the building around 12:22 a.m. and were speaking with the girlfriend when Tolliver showed up to speak to Schofield, per WXIA.
Cops say that the father and son appeared calm and walked out of the apartment together to leave in Tolliver’s vehicle. Once in the parking lot, however, they allegedly began arguing again after Schofield slammed Tolliver’s car door.
The dispute escalated and Tolliver opened fire on his son, telling cops he believed Schofield was reaching toward his waistband as if he had a gun on him, according to investigators. Schofield was allegedly searched after the shooting and had no firearms or weapons on him. He was shot 12 times, according to police.
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“I wouldn’t have ever imagined, not in a hundred years would I have thought that this was the phone call I was getting,” Schofield’s sister, Dee Clyburn, told WSB. “That’s my big brother, and I will never be able to call him again.”
Clyburn added, “He was the proud father of two kids.”
Neighbors told WSB they heard the arguing going on inside the apartment before the shooting, and that police have been called to the residence before.
One resident described to local TV station WANF hearing the gunshots, saying, “I heard pop, pop, pop, pop. … But I did not want to go see. I did not get up out of bed. I did not go outside; I did not come out. I did not go anywhere.”
WANF, citing Atlanta Police crime data, reports that at least 17 calls have been made to the residence where Schofield lived.
Tolliver was being held without bond after appearing in court last week. He is charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in addition to murder.
