Editor’s Note: The article has been corrected to reflect that the shooting was non-fatal.

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy shot a Gurley man in self-defense in a November 2021 incident, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Tim Gann tells News 19 that the unnamed deputy will not be charged in the shooting, which injured 39-year-old Corey Wayne Bell. Gann says that the office will not pursue charges against the deputy.

According to authorities, police were called to a home on Capers Drive in Gurley on November 18, 2021, by someone who told police that they lived there. When officers arrived, they found 18-year-old Corey Bell.

Bell told authorities that he and his father, 39-year-old Corey Wayne Bell had a dispute that turned violent.

“Me and my dad got into a little altercation and then police ended up getting called and he ran.” 

The younger Bell says that when police arrived, his father became angry, yelling and shouting loudly at the officers. Corey Bell says his dad ran away. That’s when things began to escalate.

He ran and hid inside the vent. When they found him inside the vent, they told him pretty much that you should come out. But he didn’t come out.”

Refusing the officer’s commands, the son said his father had his vaping device in his hand that he says is big enough that it could be mistaken for a weapon. The officer, shouting multiple commands for him to surrender, open fire on Bell and wounded him with a single gunshot.

“Pretty much they made their split-second decision and they shot him,” the son said.

The case was turned over to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) to investigate.

Local police told News 19 that this isn’t the first time the authorities were called to the home. Both the father and the son have had run-ins with the law within the two-plus years of living at the home.