A fugitive has shot and killed a deputy US marshal trying to arrest him in southeast Georgia before other officers returned fire and shot him dead.
The US Marshals Service said 53-year-old Patrick Carothers, deputy commander of the agency's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, died after being shot twice on Friday as a team of officers tried to serve a warrant at a mobile home in rural Long County.
The slain suspect was identified as Dontrell Montese Carter. He had been wanted in South Carolina since September on charges of attempted murder of police officers, domestic violence and illegally discharging a weapon.
The agency said Carothers and his team had tracked Carter to just outside Ludowici, southeast of Savannah.
Carothers was shot as they were entering the home.
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Officers returned fire and shot Carter multiple times, the Marshals Service said. Both men were taken to hospitals where they were pronounced dead.
"The fugitive who killed Deputy Commander Carothers was extremely dangerous, wanted for trying to kill law enforcement officers and deliberately evading authorities," David Harlow, deputy director of the Marshals Service, said.
"Pat is a hero and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and five children."
Carothers served 26 years with the Marshals Service and had been deputy commander of the fugitive task force for more than a year.
