Sheriff: Tenn. guardsman kills Ga. deputy, self

Sheriff: Tenn. guardsman kills Ga. deputy, self
By Adrian Sainz and Dorie Turner - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Oct 23, 2011 12:04:12 EDT
ATLANTA — A guardsman who appeared to be drunk and had been firing at passing cars shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy, then committed suicide alongside a Georgia road, authorities said Sunday.

Evidence shows Christopher Michael Hodges, 26, fired 35 rounds from his M4 semiautomatic rifle, Richmond County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Gay said. Hodges and 47-year-old Deputy James D. Paugh were found dead on the side of Bobby Jones Expressway after 1 a.m. Sunday, Gay said.

Hodges was based with the Tennessee National Guard but was on temporary duty at Fort Gordon for training, said Buz Yarnell, a spokesman for the post. Yarnell said he was not aware of any problems with Hodges before the shooting, and he would not say if Hodges had previously been deployed overseas.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength told The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle that Paugh was off duty and on his way home when he saw a suspicious car on the side of the road. He was shot several times when he stopped to check on the car and apparently fired two shots from his service weapon before he was killed.
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