LATEST UPDATE: Pat Wooten, 58, is charged with malice murder in the shooting death of his son, the GBI said in a news release tonight. He is being held at the Catoosa County Jail.
Wooten is a former Chickamauga police officer and currently works as a detention officer at the Walker County Jail.
---
PREVIOUS UPDATE: A Walker County Sheriff's Office corrections officer killed his son this afternoon, two sources said.
Pat Wooten, who works at the Walker County Jail, shot 30-year-old Patrick Lance Wooten in the chest, according to two sources close to the situation.
---
STORY: Patrick Lance Wooten, 30, died today in a shooting in the 1000 block of Hood Avenue in Chickamauga.
Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said that investigators have somebody in custody at the Walker County Jail in relation to the shooting, though the person's identity has not yet been released. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the case, said they are still looking into the case.
A GBI crime scene specialist is still on scene, and an agent is interviewing witnesses. A 911 call came in at 11:54 a.m. today, reporting a man shot in the chest. Chickamauga Police Chief Ronald Roach asked the GBI to take over the case.
Wilson said he is driving Wooten's body to the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta. He also said the GBI agents have collected the gun that supposedly was used in the homicide, as well as some rounds.
The shooting occurred in the midst of plenty of activity in the small town today. One street over, the city was hosting its annual Down Home Days festival. And the Gordon Lee High School baseball team was competing in the state playoffs around the corner.
Wooten has a history of violent arrests, according to the Walker County Clerk of Court website. In 2014, police arrested A Patrick L. Wooten three times on simple battery charges. Prosecutors later dismissed all three cases. A Patrick L. Wooten was arrested three more times within the last year: Aug. 5, Jan. 12 and Feb. 23.
All three of those cases were still pending.