Georgia man shot dead by police after he shot and killed his stepchildren

MIDLAND, Ga. (AP) — Police officers in west Georgia shot and killed a man after he shot at them and shot and killed two of his stepchildren, law enforcement said.

The man’s wife, Kelly Grigsby, told deputies she fled to a neighbor’s house with her 5-year-old child after her husband, Eric Grigsby, 50, threatened to kill her children. When officers arrived at their home at around 6:50 p.m. Monday in Midland, about 106 miles (170 km) south of Atlanta, Eric Grigsby walked out with two handguns, law enforcement said.

The officers told Grigsby to drop the guns, law enforcement said in a statement, but he pointed them at the deputies as he walked toward them. Deputies then shot a first round that struck Grigsby, and he fired back at them. Officers fired until Grigsby was shot to the ground and stopped moving. No deputies were hurt.

Grigsby’s 16-year-old stepson was found to have been shot and was pronounced dead. Emergency medical personnel tried to save his 14-year-old stepson, who had also been shot, but he died.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.

“The Deputies responded to the scene and did exactly as they were trained,” Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said in a statement.