Cartersville father speaks out about shooting - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Tony Collum believes it was the grace of God that spared his life after he was shot twice Tuesday afternoon, once from behind and once in the chest. On Thursday, he spoke exclusively to FOX 5's Portia Bruner about the horrifying ordeal.

"I watched him walk around his son while I was on my belly, point the gun and shoot me again, right in my hiney.  He shot me here (in my chest) at point blank.  You can see where it went in and came out. The doctor said I was so lucky," Collum said from his Cartersville home on Thursday afternoon.

The 44-year-old was released from Grady Memorial Hospital just hours after the shooting.  Meanwhile, Cartersville police charged 53-year-old Mark Alan Harris with the crime.  

Investigators say Harris, who is listed on www.handrealty.net as a broker and realtor, used a .32 caliber weapon to shoot Collum. It happened after Collum went to the Harris family home to confront Mr. Harris and his 17-year-old son, Parker.

"I just wanted to tell him what had been taking place," said Collum.

Collum says his 15-year-old daughter, Lauren, came home on Monday night high on drugs.  When he pressed her about where she'd been and who she was with, he says Lauren told him Parker Harris bought marijuana and then smoked it with her and another friend.  On Tuesday, Collum went to Harris' home after he says he'd spoken to both the father and the son on the phone. But Collum says what started as a civil conversation quickly escalated into heated words and a sucker punch to the eye-- allegedly by Mark Harris.

"As soon as he punched me, I punched him back. Then his pit bull jumped on me and I punched the dog three or four times. Then his son jumped on me and started punching and we started fighting," Collum claims.  

On Tuesday, Harris was initially charged with aggravated assault, but on Wednesday night, police filed two additional aggravated assault charges after learning Harris allegedly pointed at gun a Collum's brother, Michael, when he tried to defend Collum, who was lying wounded in the driveway.

Police say they charged 17-year-old Parker Harris after they found less than an ounce of marijuana and some drug-related items in the family's home. Cartersville police Lt. Mark Camp says they're still investigating Harris' claims that Parker Harris bought and used drugs with Collum's daughter.

A woman who answered the door at the Harris family home in Cartersville told FOX 5 no one at the home wanted to comment about the situation, and Harris has not returned FOX 5's phone calls or emails.

Collum, who is also the father of two sons, says he plans to hold his daughter accountable for her drug use, and he hopes authorities will, too.  But, he says he believes this experience will make her think twice about using drugs ever again.  He hopes other parents will have the courage to confront their own children and their children's friends if they suspect they're using drugs. Despite his painful wounds and the bullet still lodged in his lower back, Collum says he has no regrets.

"Absolutely. I would take 10 bullets for my daughter. Now she understands what lengths I will go to save her from the streets and from the world of drugs," Collum said.