A fire chief from Georgia was killed while helping a couple in Alabama whose car hit a deer.
James Bartholomew Cauthen, a fire chief from Coweta County, Georgia, was found dead on Sunday, January 19th, around 5:00 p.m. in Stroud, Alabama... Continue reading here ▶
Two other people were also found with gunshot wounds.
Police were called to a car accident involving a deer and found the three victims.
Investigators say Chief Cauthen was trying to help the couple whose car had hit the deer.
A local man, William Randall Franklin, is accused of shooting Chief Cauthen and the couple, injuring all three. The community in Coweta County is very upset about this.
Chief Cauthen died before police arrived. The two injured people were taken to hospitals in Georgia. Chief Cauthen was 54 years old and from Moreland, Georgia.
Investigators think Chief Cauthen saw the couple and the injured deer while leaving his property nearby and stopped to help.
Because there was poor cell phone service, Chief Cauthen and the driver of the car decided to walk to a nearby house for help. A police official called this one of the most upsetting and strange cases he’d seen in over 30 years.
Investigators say that as Chief Cauthen and the driver walked up to the house, Franklin, 33, shot at them “without warning.” The driver had a gun and shot back, injuring Franklin.
Chief Cauthen tried to run away but collapsed and died before police arrived.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for Franklin, who will be arrested when he is released from the hospital.
Police are asking anyone with information to call them.
