Security guard talks to Nashville homeless man he saved

Publish date: 2024-08-28

The security guard who alerted police when he found a homeless man shot last month has finally talked to the victim for the first time. 

And Phillip Garton doesn't buy the self defense claim 26-year-old Katie Quackenbush and her lawyer father asserted after she allegedly shot Gerald Melton, 54, and drove off. 

Garton said to News Channel Five: 'In my opinion, that was no warning shots. His daughter was there, I was there, the gentleman that got shot was there.'

After 26-year-old Katie Quackenbush allegedly shot Gerald Melton, 54, (right) and drove off, Phillip Garton (left) called police when he found the man on August 26 in Nashville, Tennessee. They spoke on Thursday for the first time since the shooting

They spoke on Thursday for the first time since the shooting and Garton confirmed that Melton was doing well. 

'He told me when I talked to him that what really helped him, was I stayed calm,' Garton said.

He doesn't buy the self-defense claims Quakenbush's (pictured) father has been preaching

He doesn't buy the self-defense claims Quakenbush's (pictured) father has been preaching

'When I think about it I almost cry, every time. It bothers me that bad. I can still hear his voice holler and say help me call 911.' 

The brief call only lasted ten minutes but Garton was relieved to hear from Melton. 

'I'm glad that he's doing better. He brings a lot off my mind but I still have pieces in my mind that I go back and it rewinds itself,' he added.

'I tried not to bring up the situation. I just really wanted to find out how he was and what he told me, he saw me on the news taking up for him and I'll do it again to the day I die.' 

The security guard is excited about the new friendship he has created. 

'He seems like a decent guy. The night that I was helping him, you know just because you're homeless doesn't make you a bad person,' he said. 

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Katie Layne Quackenbush, 26, shot Gerald Melton, 54, twice during an altercation outside her Porsche SUV in Nashville's Music Row on August 26. She was charged with attempted murder.

Garton said: 'In my opinion, that was no warning shots. His daughter was there, I was there, the gentleman that got shot was there'

Garton said: 'In my opinion, that was no warning shots. His daughter was there, I was there, the gentleman that got shot was there'

It was 3am and Melton, who was trying to sleep, complained to Katie and a friend who was with her that her music was too loud, according to police.

The pair had been at a nightclub and she was bringing her friend back to her own car when the argument ensued.

Katie Layne Quackenbush, 26, shot Gerald Melton, 54, twice during an altercation outside her Porsche SUV in Nashville's Music Row on August 26. She was charged with attempted murder

Katie Layne Quackenbush, 26, shot Gerald Melton, 54, twice during an altercation outside her Porsche SUV in Nashville's Music Row on August 26. She was charged with attempted murder

Police say that after shouting at one another, Melton retreated but Quackenbush got out of her $60,000 Porsche Cayenne and fired two shots at him, wounding him in the stomach.

Quackenbush, an aspiring country singer and rapper and mother-of-one, fled the scene afterwards to go and have breakfast at a restaurant with her friend. 

According to her father Jesse, a personal injury and criminal defense attorney in Amarillo, Texas, Quackenbush feared for her life when she fired her gun.

He said she and her friend had been at a nightclub and that his daughter was taking her friend back to her car when they saw Melton accosting another group of girls.

'As they pulled up, they noticed this homeless guy out ahead.

'He was yelling and screaming at another group of girls which looked like sorority girls from the local university.

According to her father Jesse, a personal injury and criminal defense attorney in Amarillo, Texas, Quackenbush feared for her life when she fired her gun

According to her father Jesse, a personal injury and criminal defense attorney in Amarillo, Texas, Quackenbush feared for her life when she fired her gun

'It seemed he was getting into a physical altercation with one of them,' Mr. Quackenbush told DailyMail.com on Tuesday.

He claimed Melton then approached his daughter's car and started 'screaming and banging on the windows'.

He called her a 'sand n***er w**re' and threatened to kill her if she did not turn her music down, he added. 

As she awaited her next court date after posting $25,000 in bail, photographs of her on explicit adult websites emerged. They offer the services of a woman calling herself Presley Scott who charges $800-an-hour for her services As she awaited her next court date after posting $25,000 in bail, photographs of her on explicit adult websites emerged. They offer the services of a woman calling herself Presley Scott who charges $800-an-hour for her services

As she awaited her next court date after posting $25,000 in bail, photographs of her on explicit adult websites emerged. They offer the services of a woman calling herself Presley Scott who charges $800-an-hour for her services

Frightened for her life, he said his daughter hopped out of the vehicle and fired two 'warning shots' from her gun but did not intend to strike the man. 

As she awaited her next court date after posting $25,000 in bail, photographs of her on explicit adult websites emerged. 

They offer the services of a woman calling herself Presley Scott who charges $800-an-hour for her services.

She also appears under the name Bubbles on a website for glamour models. 

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