Five dead in apparent murder-suicide at Douglas home, police say

Five people are dead after a potential murder-suicide late Friday night at a rural Douglas home. Officials said the shooter died by suicide alongside four adult family members. The residence sits on the outskirts of the small city roughly 200 miles southeast of Atlanta.

Douglas Police Chief Brannen Pruette addressed the case during a news conference on Saturday.

“Investigators believe this was an apparent murder-suicide involving immediate family members who reside in the home,” said Douglas Police Chief Brannen Pruette during a news conference on Saturday.

Officers responded to an emergency call placed by one victim shortly after 11 p.m. They found a woman alive at the scene. She was transported to a nearby hospital. She was pronounced dead, raising the death toll to five.

Police confirmed that woman made an earlier emergency call that day. That initial call summoned officers to the Douglas house. Pruette described the complaint to reporters on Saturday.

“It’s my understanding the call was placed by the wife, the female victim. She called, and was complaining about the husband who was in the house smoking and she said he was killing her with the smoke,” Pruette said.

Local law enforcement agencies handle emergency calls and investigate fatal domestic incidents within their jurisdictions. Douglas Police have not responded to emails and calls requesting more information.

Last weekend, two people died in Vienna during a high-school football game block party. That incident also injured 35 people. Vienna sits roughly an hour north of Douglas.