A tense standoff in Troup County resulted in the death of a man who allegedly turned his weapon on himself after a confrontation with deputies. The incident occurred at a residence on Shoemaker Road, as the Troup County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of an armed man threatening to harm himself and others. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, deputies were called to the scene around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
The man, identified as 52-year-old Russell Jason Heiser, had been barricaded inside the home with several family members, including a child. Deputies worked to safely evacuate the occupants, which they managed to do after several hours. These events escalated when Heiser seemingly attempted to once again arm himself during negotiations. "We got a phone call from a house at 1155 Shoemaker Road in Southern Troup County that there was an individual in the home with a gun and was making threats to harm himself or potentially others inside the home," Sgt. Stewart Smith told FOX 5 Atlanta.
Following the evacuation of the household, Heiser later emerged and placed his handgun on a porch railing before deputies attempted to take him into custody. This is when the situation took a turn. A deputy deployed a Taser, which appeared to have little effect on Heiser as he proceeded to retrieve the gun and point it at the officers. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Heiser was able to grab the gun and deputies responded by firing shots in his direction as he retreated back into the house.
Shortly after the exchange, a single gunshot was heard from within. Heiser sustained a gunshot wound and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. While it is currently unclear if Heiser was hit by deputies' gunfire, "All that is being investigated by the GBI, but we do believe that the gunshot wound to the head was a self-inflicted gunshot wound by the individual," Sgt. Smith said in a statement obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken the lead in investigating the incident, which marked the 12th officer-involved shooting the state agency has been asked to probe this year. They will ultimately forward their findings to the Coweta County Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.
