NATCHEZ — Natchez police are investigating a Friday shooting to determine if the woman who was shot was, in fact, a victim or a threat to the family of the shooter.

Natchez Police Department Detective Jerry Ford said officers responded to a shooting at 12:30 p.m. Friday on Watts Avenue.

After arriving on scene, officers found Lakeria Marvel, 21, shot once in the stomach.

Marvel told police that she had been in a confrontation earlier that day with someone she knew. Marvel had decided to go to that person’s sister’s house to discuss the situation.

“When she pulled up beside the house, she said someone started firing at her,” Marvel said. “As she was exiting her vehicle, the bullet hit her in the stomach, traveled through her abdomen and got lodged in her left arm.”

Marvel was airlifted to an Alexandria hospital, where she remained in stable condition Friday evening.

Ford said officers detained Felicia Cotton, 43, 112 Ram Circle, who was on the scene and witnesses identified as the shooter.

Officers recovered a 9 mm pistol from Cotton’s car and arrested her on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Ford said Cotton later confessed to shooting Marvel, but also said she only fired the shots to protect her family. Cotton told police that she had gone to the Watts Avenue house to visit her daughter and overheard a conversation in the house about someone wanting to harm her grandson.

“(Cotton) gathered her daughter and her grandson and was getting ready to leave, when someone pulled up beside her and blocked her vehicle in,” Ford said. “(Cotton) said the windows on the car were so dark that she couldn’t see who was inside and was concerned for the safety of her family… and that’s why she fired the shots.”

Ford said investigators were continuing to interview witnesses on the scene to determine exactly what Marvel’s role was in the incident.

“We still have some interviews to do to help figure out what happened,” Ford said. “It all seemed to be stemming from some feud between the children, but we’re still not sure on all that yet.”

Cotton remained in jail Friday evening with no bond set.