Investigators tell WRBL the suspect, William Randall Franklin, 33, allegedly opened fire on Cauthen and the driver without warning as they approached Franklin's home to seek help.
CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. -- A man fatally shot a fire battalion chief and wounded the driver of a car that hit a deer in rural Alabama, authorities said.
James Cauthen, a 54-year-old fire chief with Coweta County Fire in Georgia, was shot and killed while helping drivers who hit a deer in Alabama.
A resident in the area opened fire on Battalion Chief Bart Cauthen and the driver as they walked up his driveway for help.
A man accused of killing a Georgia fire chief who’d stopped to help a driver who struck a deer has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting, a police official said Tuesday.
We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy,” Cauthen’s colleagues wrote in a Facebook post.
Cauthen was with Coweta County Fire Rescue for over 24 years and was described as an "amazing, hard-working man with a gentle soul," according to a Facebook post from the department. He was shot and killed on Jan. 19 trying to help a stranded driver who'd hit a deer in Alabama.
A Georgia fire chief was shot dead after stopping to help motorists who had hit a deer in Alabama. A man who lived nearby now faces murder charges.
A fire battalion chief from Georgia was killed in a roadside shooting that injured two other people in Chambers County on Sunday night, the sheriff’s office said. “We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy,” the Coweta County Fire Rescue Department posted on Facebook last night.
Authorities say murder charges have been issued for a man accused of fatally shooting a Georgia fire chief in rural Alabama.
A Georgia fire chief was shot to death in Alabama after stopping to help a couple whose car struck a deer, officials said.
A fire chief died in Alabama ... scene," the Chambers County Sheriff's Office said. "The deceased victim is identified as James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54 years of age from Moreland, Georgia ...