A man accused of killing his estranged wife was shot to death by Coweta County deputies in an exchange of gunfire on the night before Thanksgiving, according to authorities.
Sheriff’s deputies first got a call about a shooting at a home on Halo Trace in the Michaels Crossing subdivision near Sharpsburg around 5 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found a woman already dead, the sheriff’s office said. Her name was not released.
Officials quickly identified the suspect as 34-year-old Dustin Allen Phillips, the victim’s estranged husband, according to the GBI.
Investigators believe he shot her during a domestic dispute, and they obtained a warrant for felony murder, the sheriff’s office said.
Phillips left the scene before authorities arrived and remained at large until Wednesday night when deputies were called back to Halo Trace on a report that he was in the area, officials said. It was about 9:30 p.m. when deputies arrived and saw him running away, the GBI said.
They followed him, which is when he allegedly pointed a handgun at them and fired several rounds, according to the state agency. Deputies returned fire, striking Phillips multiple times. He died at the scene.
No deputies were injured.
It was the 93rd officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. By the same time last year, there had been 107.
The state agency will conduct its independent investigation, and once complete, the case file will be given to the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI regional office in Columbus at 706-565-7888. Anonymous tips can also be submitted at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
