Calhoun police kill break-in suspect
Incident marks second Gordon fatal officer-involved shooting this year
A man was shot and killed by police during a response to a suspected business break-in early Thursday.
According to Calhoun Police Chief Tony Pyle, around 2:15 a.m., an officer was driving past Battlefield Building Supply, 1368 Highway 41, when he noticed the front door glass of the business had been busted out.
“(The officer) radioed in and entered the building,” Pyle said.
“He located a man inside the store holding a firearm.”
Pyle said when backup officers arrived they tried to talk the man into surrendering, but the man instead pointed a rifle at an officer.
“Officers fired their weapons in response,” Pyle said, confirming the man shot by officers has since died.
According to Pyle, the incident was captured on the department’s body camera equipment.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to conduct an independent investigation and remained on the scene early Thursday. As of Thursday afternoon, the identity of the man killed in the incident had not been released pending next of kin.
This is the second officer involved shooting in Gordon County in 2023. On
Jan. 24, 51-year-old Billy Dewayne Couch, of Sugar Valley, was shot and killed by a Gordon County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
According to GCSO and GBI reports, around 1 a.m., a GCSO deputy attempted to pull Couch over on Cook Road near Resaca. Couch sped away from the deputy and drove back to his home at 523 Pocket Road in Sugar Valley.
The deputy blocked the vehicle with his patrol car while continuing to give Couch verbal commands. Couch was shot by the deputy during the incident, and transported to Adventhealth Gordon where he was pronounced dead.
Other recent shootings by officers in Northwest Georgia:
♦ Jan. 2: Bartow County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot 41-year-old Arthur William Smith. He is accused of pointing what turned out to be a replica rifle at police and was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
♦ Dec. 23, 2022: Cartersville Police Department officers shot 49-year-old Phillip Ross. He is accused of hitting on officer with the front of his SUV. Ross was taken to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The officer that was hit by the SUV did not report any injuries.
Nov. 21, 2022: Paulding County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed 36-yearold Billy Wayne Denton of Rockmart. Denton is reported to have fired at deputies in a rolling gun battle on Memorial Drive.
♦ Aug. 2, 2022: Gordon County Sheriff’s Office investigators shot and killed 26-year-old Walter Lee Osborne, Jr. during an undercover drug investigation in the area of Brookline Circle and Dews Pond Road. Police say Osborne produced a shortened AK-47 style rifle and threatened officers once they identified themselves.
♦ April 19, 2022: Gordon County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed 26-yearold Casey Honea of Rossville, after a chase on I-75.
♦ Feb. 28, 2022: Polk County Police Department and Cedartown Police Department officers fired at 31-year-old
Taylor Mcgee of Cedartown. He is accused of running over a Cedartown PD office on a four wheeler during a chase. Mcgee was shot and sustained non-life threatening injuries. One officer sustained minor injuries.
♦ Jan. 25, 2022: An Aragon
Police Department officer shot and killed 30-yearold Derek Rock of Aragon around 6 p.m. at his home on Walnut Street. Police said Rock was at the door with a gun to his head, threatening to shoot himself, and then pointed the weapon at the officer. The officer fired at Rock and then began to administer aid to Rock, who died at the scene.
♦ Jan. 6, 2022, Calhoun Police Department officers shot and killed 37-year-old Jose Brito Lopez during a burglary investigation at 121½ Adair St. Lopez is accused of advancing toward officers after being told to stop several times.