Man Dies After Deputy Shoots During Domestic Dispute

CANTON, GA -- A man has died after a Cherokee Sheriff's deputy shot him while responding to a domestic dispute where a woman was held at gunpoint by her estranged husband.

Deputies were dispatched at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, to a home on Hancock Mountain Trail in the Salacoa community of northern Cherokee County, according to Cherokee Sheriff's Office Director Jay Baker.

Responding deputies were told there was a male inside the home holding a firearm to the head of a female. The first deputy on the scene approached the mobile home on foot. He saw, through the open front door, a man pointing a firearm at a female. She was later determined to be his estranged wife, Baker said.

The deputy ordered the man to drop the weapon, but he reportedly refused. The deputy fired his weapon, the suspect was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say the woman suffered injuries to her head; witnesses told police her husband struck her with the firearm. She was taken by ambulance to Northside Cherokee Hospital.

No names are being released at this time. As with any officer involved shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations is conducting an investigation.