The man shot and killed by federal agents during an arrest attempt was accused of a Cobb County fatal hit-and-run in March, according to police.
Thomas Franklin Truitt, 37, was shot and killed late Thursday night in a Bartow County home while U.S. Marshals and local police officers were attempting to arrest him, Sgt. Jonathan Rogers with the Bartow County Sheriff's Office said.
"During the attempt to arrest, shots were fired, and Truitt was shot and killed," Rogers said in a news release.
After entering a home on Old Old Alabama Road and announcing their presence, marshals asked someone repeatedly to show his hands before several shots were fired, according to an incident report obtained by the AJC. Truitt, of Ranger, was dead when emergency medical responders arrived at the home, the report states.
Truitt was wanted for allegedly causing a March 21 wreck on I-75 northbound in Cobb County that killed a 59-year-old Kansas man, according to his arrest warrant. Norman G. Koehn was standing in the emergency lane near the Hickory Grove Road overpass when he was allegedly struck by Truitt and killed, the AJC reported earlier this month.
Truitt, who was driving a Saturn L200 on a suspended license, ran away from the crash scene and had been on the run, according to police.
While executing a search warrant of the Saturn at Kennesaw Wrecker Service, officers found methamphetamine, a scale and numerous plastic baggies, as well as prescription medications, including Hydromorphone hydrochloride, Mirtazapine and Alprazolam, the warrant states. In addition to various drug charges, Truitt also was charged with failure to maintain lane and driving without a seat belt, according to the warrant.
Truitt's criminal history includes several arrests in Cobb County on drug and traffic charges dating back to 1998, records show. In April 2011, Truitt was arrested by Acworth police and charged with possessing methamphetamine, a felony, and driving without a tag light, a misdemeanor charge, according to a previous arrest warrant.
The investigation continues into the shooting that killed Truitt, according to police.
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