DECATUR, Ga. — A former law enforcement officer who had lost his job because of allegations of domestic violence shot his ex-wife to death and wounded a sheriff and deputy Sunday at a home in northeastern Georgia, authorities said.
Anthony Giaquinta, 41, fatally shot his ex-wife, Kathy Giaquinta Smith, at the home in Clarkesville, Russell Andrews with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told reporters Monday. The body of Steven Thomas Singleton, 45, was found outside the home, and authorities believe Giaquinta shot him as well.
In this undated photo real eased by the Habersham County (Ga.) Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Joey Terrell poses for an official portrait. A shooting killed three people, including the suspect who was a former police officer, and also left Terrell and a deputy wounded in what authorities described as an ambush in northeastern Georgia. Terrell and Deputy Bill Zigan were shot and hospitalized. State Patrol Capt. Mark Perry said their injuries “don’t appear serious.” (AP Photo/Habersham County Sheriff’s Department) Giaquinta initially fled but was later found dead outside the home. Authorities believe he died from a gunshot wound suffered in an exchange of shots with a sheriff’s deputy, Andrews said.
“We think it is a long-simmering domestic dispute that had been going on between Anthony Giaquinta and Kathy Giaquinta Smith,” Andrews said. “We do think it involves the personal relationship between the two of them and possibly her relationship with other people.”
Andrews gave this account of the shootings: