Suspect's family: Racial comments played role in shootings

Walton County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home on River Run Road in Monroe, which is in the Apalachee subdivision. When they arrived, they found two men had been shot.  

One of the men, later identified as Chandler Martin, died. Another person was injured in the shooting, according to reports.

Deputies were then alerted that the alleged shooter was living next door and was inside.

Reports stated that they met with several people at the home, who told officers that the alleged shooter, later identified as Opel Lackey, would cooperate with deputies.

Authorities said in the report that once they arrested the 77-year-old, family members told the responding sheriff's deputies that the neighbors always gave Lackey “a hard time.” They said, “they would curse at him, use racial slur and anything else that would agitate him.”

A family member said the neighbors reportedly “agitated” him every Sunday he would do yard work, the report stated.

One of the family members told deputies that Lackey would normally go back inside to “avoid conflict.”

But, the family said he was “tired of it” this past Sunday. That's when a family member saw the shooting unfold, the incident report showed.

Lackey is being charged with murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, jail records show. He is currently being held without bond.