LOCUST GROVE, Ga. — Authorities in Georgia say the police officer killed in a shootout with a criminal suspect with Connecticut ties died of a gunshot wound to the head.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that preliminary results of an autopsy performed Saturday on Locust Grove Police Officer Chase Maddox at the crime lab in Decatur indicate he was shot three times, with the fatal wound being to the head.
The suspect, 39-year-old Tierre Guthrie, also died. An autopsy showed that he was shot four times, with two wounds to the chest. Guthrie lived in the Hartford area from 2001 to 2015
Gunfire broke out as the officers were serving an arrest warrant Friday morning at a home in Locust Grove, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta. Guthrie was wanted for failing to appear in court for traffic violations, the GBI said.
The fallen officer’s wife is expecting the couple’s second baby. And the town’s mayor broke down as he spoke about the officer and his family hours after Friday morning’s shooting.
Henry County Sheriff Keith McBrayer said the gunfire broke out as the officers tried to serve an arrest warrant around 11 a.m. at a home in Locust Grove, about 40 miles southeast of Atlanta.
