Catrell Ford. Photo courtesy of Bibb County Sheriff's Office
BIBB COUNTY, Ga. - A man suspected in the fatal shooting of a woman outside a Family Dollar on Jeffersonville Road Tuesday afternoon was killed hours later in an exchange of gunfire with deputies, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
What we know:
Deputies responded to the Family Dollar parking lot around 4:40 p.m. Sept. 2 after reports of shots fired. They found 56-year-old Regina Darlene Smith unresponsive in a Nissan Rogue with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A 79-year-old man in the vehicle was also shot and taken to a hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
Investigators identified the suspect as 43-year-old Catrell Tywan Ford. Witnesses told deputies the shooting may have stemmed from a prior vehicle accident. Ford fled the scene, prompting a multi-agency search involving the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Taskforce.
Around 9:44 p.m., deputies spotted Ford at a convenience store at Spring Street and Riverside Drive. After he fled into nearby woods, officers pursued him for more than 300 yards. According to authorities, Ford exchanged gunfire with deputies before being mortally wounded. Deputies and paramedics rendered aid, but he later died at a hospital.
No law enforcement officers or bystanders were injured during the incident.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the deputy-involved shooting, and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Division will conduct an internal investigation.
What's next:
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.