A Georgia fire chief was shot to death in Alabama after stopping to help a couple whose car struck a deer, officials said. James Bartholomew Cauthen was the battalion chief for the Coweta County Fire Department.

A man fatally shot a fire chief and wounded the driver of a car that hit a deer in rural Alabama when they walked on his property to ask for help.

The Coweta County fire chief was shot to death over the weekend when he stopped to help a stranger who had hit a deer in Alabama, investigators say.

Authorities say murder charges have been issued for a man accused of fatally shooting a Georgia fire chief in rural Alabama.

James Bartholomew Cauthen, the fire battalion chief for Coweta County, was on the side of the road helping a driver who had hit a deer, according to the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office.