A Paulding County Sheriff’s deputy was killed in the line of duty early Saturday morning while responding to a domestic dispute, CBS News reports.
Deputy Brandon Cunningham, 30, was shot and killed in what authorities are calling an attack by a suspect who later took his own life.
The incident occurred shortly after 6:00 a.m. ET at a home in a Hiram subdivision. Deputy Cunningham and another deputy arrived at the scene to find a male suspect who opened fire on them and other responding officers.
“Unfortunately, it appears as if our deputies were ambushed,” stated Major Ashley Henson of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office during a news briefing. “This is something that has never happened in the history of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office. We have never lost a deputy in the line of duty.”
Henson described the shooting as a “tremendously tragic situation” and expressed deep condolences for the loss of Deputy Cunningham. The suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A woman involved in the domestic dispute, who had left the scene but returned while police were present, was also shot and transported to an Atlanta-area hospital in stable condition.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is overseeing the investigation, and it remains unclear whether any officers returned fire during the incident.
Deputy Cunningham had joined the sheriff’s department in 2020 and served in the uniform patrol division for the past two years. He is survived by his two children.
“Our hearts are broken,” stated Henson, expressing the immense grief felt by the entire department. “You see us holding it together, but there are going to be, there is already heartache, there is already tears.”
The community is in mourning for the fallen deputy, and the tragic incident highlights the dangers faced by law enforcement officers every day.
