CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. (WTVM/Gray News) – Authorities say an Alabama man accused of killing a Georgia fire official and injuring another person in a shooting was arrested on murder charges.
Deputies with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office responded to a vehicle wreck involving a deer around 5 p.m. Sunday in the Stroud community of Alabama. Upon arrival, officials say they found three men with gunshot wounds. One of them was dead, and two were injured, WTVM reports.
Officials identified the deceased as 54-year-old James Bartholomew Cauthen, who served as a battalion chief with Coweta County Fire Rescue in Georgia.
Cauthen was attempting to assist a man who hit a deer while traveling on County Road 267, according to the sheriff’s office. Both men walked to a nearby house to ask for help after having trouble with cell reception. Officials say that’s when 33-year-old William Randall Franklin, who lives in the area, opened fire on them.
“They start walking up a driveway, and the individual that lived in the residence where this driveway was came out and started shooting,” said Chambers County Chief Deputy Mike Parrish. “I’ve worked a lot, but this was probably one of the most bizarre scenes I ever showed up on.”
Parrish said all three men were armed, and all three were shot. Cauthen died on the scene, Franklin was flown to Piedmont Columbus Regional and the undentified driver was taken to a trauma center in LaGrange, Georgia.
A possible motive was not immediately clear.
“A deer wreck…you pull up and three people are shot – it just don’t make sense any way you look at it,” Parrish said. “We just really didn’t know what happened. It was just bizarre.”
Franklin was released from the hospital Monday and arrested by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office. He’s awaiting extradition to Chambers County.
Coweta County Fire Rescue has made multiple Facebook posts remembering Cauthen after his death in what the department calls “a senseless tragedy.”
Cauthen is described as “an amazing, hard-working man with a gentle soul” in one post. He had been with the department for more than 24 years.
“Just like many of you, we have many questions as we navigate through this horrible tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to Cauthen’s family, friends and our brothers and sisters in the Fire Rescue family who worked closely with him,” the post read. “At this time, we do not have further details outside of what was released from the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office nor have funeral arrangements been made. We will share updates as they become available.”
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