A fatal SWAT standoff in Villa Rica, Georgia, has been linked to the suspected murder of a man found dead on the same road a day earlier, authorities said.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are examining three violent incidents on Conners Road over a 48-hour period, including the death of Eugene Scales, a shooting that left another man injured and the police killing of 53-year-old Bradley Cox.
Deputies were first called to the area on Tuesday, November 3, after a report of a suspicious death. Scales was found dead at the property, and the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office later classified his death as homicide.
At about 6.30pm the following day, deputies returned to the same location after reports of gunfire. They found an unidentified man with a gunshot wound. He was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Investigators said Cox was at the scene when deputies arrived but withdrew into his home and barricaded himself inside. Negotiators attempted to persuade him to come out, while SWAT officers later used chemical irritants when those efforts failed.
The tactical team eventually entered the house and encountered Cox in a hallway. The GBI said he was holding a sword when two deputies opened fire, killing him at the scene. No deputies were injured.
The sheriff’s office said the shooting involving the wounded man and the confrontation with Cox were directly connected to Scales’s death. Authorities have not, however, disclosed what led to the initial gunfire or said whether Cox had been formally identified as a suspect in the homicide.
The injured man has not been publicly identified, and investigators have not released a motive. The GBI is conducting an independent investigation into the fatal police shooting, with the completed case file due to be sent to the Douglas Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Autopsies are being carried out through the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office as the investigation continues.
