Two wounded men face charges in exchange of gunfire in Phenix City, police say

Two men hospitalized Wednesday with wounds after an exchange of gunfire in Phenix City will face attempted murder charges, police said.

Following a dispute earlier Wednesday, Justin Lott, 34, and Andrew McDaniel, 58, drove to a business in the 1300 block of 14th Street, where Lott got out of the car and started shooting at the people there, officers said.

One of the people targeted pulled his own gun and returned fire, wounding both Lott and McDaniel, who got back in their vehicle and fled, stopping at 13th Street and Whitewater Avenue, where officers found them with gunshot wounds shortly after 6 p.m., police said.

Both men were taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional in Columbus and admitted to the hospital, though their wounds are not life threatening, investigators said. No one at the business was injured, they said.

Police said that upon their release, they will be held at the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus until they can be extradited back to Phenix City to face charges, police said in a news release.

Police did not specify the nature of the dispute that sparked the shooting.

This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 2:34 PM.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.