Man kills woman in murder-suicide witnessed by child, Hall deputies say
A man shot and killed a Gainesville woman and turned the gun on himself Saturday afternoon inside his Hall County home, where a 9-year-old girl called a friend after witnessing the gunfire, authorities said.
Hall County deputies responded at about 3 p.m. to the 5400 block of Bushnell Court after the child’s friend told her parents, who then contacted law enforcement, according to the sheriff’s office.
The quiet neighborhood is near Spout Springs Road and Union Church Road.
When deputies arrived, they found a 50-year-old woman dead “at the threshold of the residence,” while the 51-year-old gunman’s body was located in the basement, the sheriff’s office said. The woman had been shot several times and the suspected gunman died from a single self-inflected gunshot wound, deputies said.
According to investigators, the girl was then found by law enforcement hiding in an upstairs bedroom closet after she reached out to her friend via FaceTime.
“The friend told her parents about the call,” deputies said. “The parents in turn called 911.”
Sheriff’s office spokesperson B.J. Williams said she wasn’t able to confirm the relationship between the girl and the two deceased, as they were still trying to locate out-of-state family members. The child was unharmed during the shooting, deputies confirmed.
While investigators reached out to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services for help, the girl was ultimately “released into the custody of a relative,” the sheriff’s office said.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
