ATLANTA - A man was fatally shot by a Cherokee County, Ga., sheriff's deputy Tuesday night when he refused to put down a gun pointed at his estranged wife's head, authorities said.
The man, who was not identified, was dead at the scene, sheriff's spokesman Jay Baker said. His wife was taken to Northside Hospital Cherokee to be treated for injuries to her head.
Neighbors called 911 around 8:15 p.m. to report a domestic dispute at a mobile home in northern Cherokee. When the first deputy arrived, he saw the man holding the gun on the woman through an open door, Baker said.
Because the mobile home was in a rural part of the county, backup was miles away, Channel 2 Action News reported.
"The deputy gave verbal commands for the male to drop the weapon but the male refused," Baker said in a news release. "The deputy fired his weapon. The suspect was shot and pronounced dead at the scene."
Witnesses told deputies that before they arrived, the man beat the woman's head with the gun. Her condition was not known Wednesday.
The GBI was requested to investigate, which is standard protocol in officer-involved shootings, Baker said.