WARNER ROBINS, Texas -- A Houston County sheriff's deputy fatally shot a suspected burglar Monday morning during a scuffle in a pecan orchard near Feagin Mill Middle School, authorities said.
The man was shot once after he tried to pull a weapon out of a coat pocket in the scuffle with the deputy, said Chief Deputy Billy Rape, second in command at the Houston County Sheriff's Office.
The GBI was asked to investigate the incident, Rape said, which is standard operating procedure in a deputy-involved shooting.
"We don't see any wrongdoing" on the part of the sheriff's deputy," Rape said. "Just as a precaution, we've asked an outside agency" to investigate, he said.
The deputy, identified by the GBI as Steve Glidden, 51, has been with the sheriff's office for five years, according to a GBI news release issued Monday afternoon. Glidden, who is assigned to the warrant division, was not injured. He is on administrative leave until further notice, Rape said.
The GBI was withholding the name of the man pending confirmation of his identity expected with the autopsy Tuesday morning at a GBI crime lab in Macon, said Craig Rotter, assistant special agent in charge of the GBI office in Perry.
The incident
A burglary in progress was reported to 911 about 9 a.m. at a home near the intersection of Sweetwater Drive and Feagin Mill Road immediately west of the middle school, Rape said. The burglar was apparently surprised by the homeowner, who did not see the burglar but heard him, Rape said. The burglar fled out the back door.
Glidden, who was among several deputies dispatched to search for the suspect, found a man walking in a pecan orchard just south of the home, Rape said. Glidden approached the man and asked him to take his hands out of his pockets. When the man refused, Glidden deployed a Taser. The Taser functioned properly, Rotter said, but the man was wearing a thick jacket and the prongs did not make contact with his body.
A scuffle ensued, and the suspected burglar was shot. The man died at the scene before a fire truck and ambulance arrived, Rotter said.
A handgun was found near the body, Rotter said. A TV remote and computer jump drives reported stolen from the home were found on the suspect's body.
Rotter said agents will review the evidence to see if it matches interviews with deputies and residents in the area.
Once the GBI completes its investigation, it will turn its findings over to the Houston County District Attorney's Office for review, Rotter said.
The neighborhood
The 1613 Sweetwater Drive home where the burglary occurred was roped off with crime scene tape Monday. The middle school was locked down Monday morning as a precaution after the 911 call, Rape said.
Chance Strozier, whose backyard at 1569 Sweetwater Drive borders the pecan grove, said he had seen his wife and child off to school and was making coffee when he heard a "pop." He said he could see the outline of the body from his backyard.
"It's a little unnerving," Stozier said. "It's a tragedy."
Steve Shelton, who lives across the street from Strozier at 1568 Sweetwater Drive, said he was drinking coffee when he heard one gunshot and saw two sheriff's cars pull up and two deputies run along a drainage culvert to the area where the shooting occurred.
Mandy Gonzales, who lives a few houses away from the home that was burglarized, said about an hour before the burglary she saw a young man with a heavy black coat, a hood over his head and smoking two cigarettes at once walking down the street. She remembered thinking it was odd. She took her daughter to school, came home and was about to take a nap when she heard sirens.
"I've been here 13 years, and I've never seen anything like this," Gonzales said. "It scares us."
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
