A man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday after firing at an officer outside a Buc-ee’s in northwest Georgia and leading law enforcement on a chase in a stolen vehicle, authorities said.
He was identified as 35-year-old Robert Smith of Cookeville, Tennessee, by the GBI, which was asked by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the incident.
At about 4 a.m., Calhoun police were called to the Buc-ee’s on Union Grove Road in Gordon County after getting a report of a domestic dispute. Smith had arrived at the gas station by getting a ride from someone after abandoning his car in metro Atlanta on Wednesday, according to the GBI. Officials were called after the man who drove Smith stopped at the Buc-ee’s and asked employees to call 911.
When officers arrived, they tried to place the suspect in handcuffs but he ran, according to authorities.
Police said the man then turned and started shooting at officers. He also allegedly carjacked a vehicle in the parking lot and drove away.
No officers were injured during the shooting, police said. The Buc-ee’s location is open 24 hours a day.
After the gunfire, authorities in neighboring Whitfield County were told to be on the lookout for Smith, according to Sheriff Darren J. Pierce. Whitfield deputies spotted the stolen car on Chattanooga Road and a chase ensued, Pierce said. During the 3-mile pursuit on I-75, the suspect again shot at law enforcement before crashing near mile marker 339, Pierce said.
The responding deputies, who did not fire back, then approached the vehicle and found Smith dead with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the sheriff.
The GBI added that Smith, whose body will be taken to the agency’s medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, was wanted for aggravated assault out of Nashville at the time of the incident.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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