Artavious Reed is lucky to be alive after he made the ill-advised decision to rob at least one armed victim in Henry County, Georgia. The incident unfolded on January 30 and resulted in the would-be robber being sent to the hospital after being shot multiple times in self-defense.

Local law enforcement identified the suspect after viewing camera footage.

Henry County detectives said after conducting several search warrants and utilizing Flock cameras, they were able to identify all individuals involved in the incident.

Officers said Reed was the suspect in the case. He had allegedly robbed his victims at gunpoint and shot at their car multiple times.

According to the police department, one of the victims returned fire out of self-defense, hitting Reed multiple times.

Reed was charged with armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain crimes.

Reed is also suspected of having committed two other armed robberies in the area, suggesting a pattern of criminal behavior that ultimately culminated in this encounter.

There are likely more details to this story that have not been reported yet. However, it is clear that this incident represents one of many defensive gun uses that occur each year across the country.

Henry County is not a high-crime area compared to other cities.

The A grade means the rate of crime is much lower than the average US county. Henry County is in the 92nd percentile for safety, meaning 8% of counties are safer and 92% of counties are more dangerous. This analysis applies to Henry County's proper boundaries only. See the table on nearby places below for nearby counties.

The rate of crime in Henry County is 26.28 per 1,000 residents during a standard year. People who live in Henry County generally consider the northeast part of the county to be the safest.

Your chance of being a victim of crime in Henry County may be as high as 1 in 22 in the central neighborhoods, or as low as 1 in 78 in the northeast part of the county.

Still, it was smart for these individuals to be armed, especially in a state like Georgia, whose government is not actively trying to disarm the law-abiding populace. Indeed, the Peach State ranks in 46th place for gun control legislation according to anti-gunner organization Everytown for Gun Safety, which means Georgians don’t have to worry as much about the state interfering with their right to keep and bear arms.

Georgia has some of the weakest gun laws in the country. The legislature passed a law requiring colleges and universities to allow guns on campus in 2017, and in 2022, Georgia repealed its last foundational policy by passing permitless carry legislation. Though Georgia repealed its Citizen’s Arrest law in 2021, the state still has a dangerous Shoot First law that allows a person to kill another in a public area, even when they can safely walk away from the danger.

This situation is a compelling reminder of the unpredictable nature of criminal activity. Even those residing in safer areas can still find themselves threatened by criminal elements that come from out of town, which is why gun ownership is still essential.