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What started as a car crash involving a deer ended in a deadly shootout in the Stroud community with multiple gunshot wounds and the death of a Coweta County Battalion Fire Chief on Sunday night.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 19, Chambers County deputies were dispatched to County Road 267 near U.S. 431 in the Stroud community in reference to a traffic accident involving a deer. 

Upon arrival, deputies found three individuals with gunshot wounds, one of which was deceased. The deceased victim was later identified as James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54 years of age from Moreland, Georgia. Cauthen was a Battalion Fire Chief with Coweta County Fire. 

The other two individuals were transported by helicopter to LaGrange and Columbus trauma centers. One of them was identified as William Randall Franklin, who resides in the area, and is now a suspect in Cauthen’s death. 

Early investigation indicates that Cauthen was attempting to assist a couple who had struck a deer while traveling on County Road 267. Cauthen happened to be in the area at the time of the crash. 

According to Chambers County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Parrish, Cauthen and the driver of the vehicle approached a nearby house, presumably to seek help. Instead, Franklin allegedly opened fire on Chief Cauthen and the driver as they walked up his driveway. 

Both Cauthen and the driver were also carrying firearms and apparently drew their weapons in defense of Franklin. 

By the time deputies arrived on the scene, all three individuals had been injured in the shootout. Cauthen had already succumbed to his injuries. Franklin and the driver, whose identity has not been released, both suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and are expected to make a full recovery. 

Arrest warrants for Murder have been issued for Franklin. He will be arrested upon release from Piedmont Medical Center. 

Anyone with information pertaining to this case are asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division at (334)864-4333.