The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating after Athens police officer fired at an armed suspect during a domestic dispute which left a woman dead and the suspect in intensive care.
A woman is dead after and a man is hospitalized after a domestic dispute in West Athens.
Police Chief Scott Freeman held a press conference in the wake of that shooting. Freeman says the suspect, Nicholas Head, shot Quintavia Wade in the face as the first officer arrived on the scene.
“Immediately, as soon as he arrived and got out of his car the suspect shot the victim and the officer witnessed this shooting and he returned fire,” according to Freeman. “He opened fire on the suspect in an attempt to stop the threat.”
Freeman says the suspect shot himself in the head, it is not clear if the officer also shot him.
The chief says police were an earlier report of domestic violence between Nicholas Head and the mother of his child, Courtney Williams. Witnesses on the scene say the victim, Wade, was best friends with Williams. Freeman says Wade may have been an innocent victim who got in the way.
Alexis Wade is the victim’s first cousin. She came to Athens from Norcross when she heard about the shooting. She says her cousin was new to the neighborhood.
“She just moved here, she just this beautiful, brand new apartment, she was getting her life together. She has three beautiful kids.”
Police say Head had left the scene of the earlier confrontation before officers arrived.
