ALABAMA-An Anniston woman is dead, and Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade was offering thanks Saturday that a deputy was not, after the woman in custody slipped free of a handcuff, got a gun and pointed it at the deputy's head.
The deputy was able to deflect her weapon and fired his own, striking her, Wade said in a press release. The woman was dead at the scene, the sheriff said.
A deputy made a traffic stop on Grayton Road South in Ohatchee at about 3:32 a.m. Saturday, and discovered a large amount of methamphetamine and a pistol in the vehicle.
Two people were arrested: Timothy Alan Wood, of Wilsonville, and Brittany Nicole Yoder, of Anniston, for trafficking in methamphetamine and certain person forbidden to possess a pistol.
While the deputy awaited the wrecker service to tow the suspects' vehicle, Wade said, Yoder began asking for the deputy for help. As the deputy opened the patrol vehicle to check on the suspects, Yoder immediately exited the patrol vehicle, pointing a pistol at the deputy's head. The deputy was able deflect the weapon and fire his weapon striking Yoder, the sheriff said.
The woman's pistol did not have a round in the chamber, but the weapon's magazine was loaded with live ammunition, Wade said.
Wood did not try to leave the vehicle. The deputy had restrained both subjects with handcuffs behind their back. However, Yoder was able to slip off one of the cuffs allowing her to get a pistol from Wood or one that she had herself, Wade said.
The entire incident was captured on the deputy's body camera. "The camera footage clearly verified Yoder's actions with the pistol," Wade said.
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