GRIFFIN, Ga. — The Spalding County sheriff is attempting to clear the air after he claims rumors began swirling over the circumstances surrounding a woman who was shot and killed in downtown Griffin on Friday.
Darrell Dix, the Spalding County sheriff, took to the department's Facebook page in a long statement to explain what happened, previous instances his office and deputies have dealt with the couple in the past, and try to clear some of his deputies' names from online wrath.
11Alive learned on Friday that one person was killed and another person was hospitalized in a shooting incident in downtown Griffin on Friday in which both parties knew each other, according to police. The Griffin Police Department stressed there was no "active threat to the public" though the call had first come in as an active shooter situation.
What we know now
In the post on Saturday, Dix said that a woman walked out of the courthouse in downtown Griffin and went to her car, which was parallel parked facing north on 6th Street and got inside the car. The woman's husband, who was inside of a second car, was driving north on 6th Street and stopped beside her car when she was inside, and proceeded to fire multiple gunshots through the window, where she was hit and later died, according to the sheriff's post.
By the time deputies heard the gunfire at the courthouse and responded, Dix said the husband had already begun to drive off and turned east on Solomon Street. Dix said a marked police unit followed him, but he didn't stop. When he did, Dix said the husband shot himself in the head, but he survived and was rushed to the hospital.
Sheriff says there was history of alleged mutual domestic violence
In the post, Dix said his deputies were called to the house of the husband and wife for domestic violence calls. He said there were separate times in which the wife accused the husband of domestic violence and times when the wife accused the husband of domestic violence. There were also times, Dix said, where they said the violence was mutual.
He said under Georgia's Family Violence law, the "primary aggressor" will be arrested. He said if both parties said they fought mutually or there were not any witnesses to see the aggressor, then deputies can't make any arrests. He did, however, say the husband was recently arrested for domestic violence and posted bond.
Sheriff tries to debunk rumors
Sheriff Dix said there was a rumor that the wife asked his deputies for an escort to the car. Dix said after reviewing video, that never happened.
Dix explained the husband and wife were both at the courthouse for a hearing on the alleged domestic violence arrest of the husband.
"This is a horrible thing that happened and people are emotional and angry about it," he said in the post.
"Do improvements need to be made to the law, yes they do. Maybe it wasnt a Deputy or my agency that failed, maybe it was the law itself. By the way, the Deputies that allegedly refused to escort her are the same ones that removed her from the car, tried to control the bleeding and tried to save her life," he concluded.