The last walk that Ronald Westbrook took started around 1 a.m. He slipped unnoticed from his North Georgia home with his two dogs.
It ended three hours later when the 72-year-old Westbrook, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, knocked on a stranger's door.
Police say a man inside that home, 34-year-old Joe Hendrix, got a .40-caliber handgun, went outside to investigate and shot Westbrook in a horrible mistake.
It was an unlikely collision between two strangers, one of them deeply confused and another who perceived a threat in the dark. It shows the difficulties that caregivers face in keeping loved ones with Alzheimer's safe and the consequences of miscalculation in a state that celebrates its gun culture.
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AP reporter Kate Brumback contributed to this report from Atlanta.
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Follow Ray Henry on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rhenryAP.
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