In Hall County, deputies respond to domestic violence calls every day, nearly every shift, according to the sheriff.
On Thursday morning, one of those calls turned tragic, ending with a father killing his 2-year-old son before taking his own life.
Deputies were looking for the man, identified as 24-year-old Christian Castro, after the child’s mother reported just after midnight that he assaulted her and took their son. The mother’s injuries were minor, and she wasn’t taken to a hospital, sheriff’s spokesman Derreck Booth told AJC.com.
Castro, who had no prior arrests in Hall County, shot the child and then turned the gun on himself after deputies followed his vehicle to property on Poplar Springs Road, which is adjacent to his residence, Booth said.
“As deputies approached the car on foot, Castro fired several gunshots at them, but no one was injured,” Booth said in a news release. “Deputies could see Castro’s son sitting on his lap in the car.”
A SWAT team was called to establish a perimeter around the car. During the three-hour standoff, deputies kept their distance as Castro drove around a pasture. Hostage negotiators made “numerous attempts to contact Castro by phone without success,” Booth said.
Deputies heard the gunshots from inside the vehicle around 3:30 a.m.
“This morning our deputies responded to a domestic violence call that ended in the worst possible way, with the death of a child,” Sheriff Gerald Couch said in a statement. “First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the child’s family, and we ask that our community do the same.”
Couch said his deputies showed restraint by not returning fire out of concern for Christian Castro Jr.’s safety. They hoped for a peaceful resolution.
“Unfortunately, the perpetrator did not allow that to happen, as he made the decision to take the life of his own son before taking his own,” Couch said.
The sheriff called attention to the problem of domestic violence in Hall County. It is rare for an officer in any jurisdiction to make it through a shift without responding to a domestic-related call, he said. Just last week, a woman was arrested after her live-in boyfriend was shot and killed during a dispute at their Flowery Branch home.
The woman is facing a charge of voluntary manslaughter.
RELATED: Hall County woman shoots, kills boyfriend during dispute, deputies say
“We want to emphasize that there is hope for those who find themselves in domestic violence relationships, as we have resources available that can be of assistance to victims to help them safely escape the situation,” Couch said, “and hopefully avoid a tragedy similar to what we’ve seen today.”
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