Ex-police officer kills wife, wounds sheriff, deputy in Georgia

A former police officer was found dead after he killed his wife and wounded a county sheriff and a deputy Sunday night in rural Georgia, police said. The body of a third person was later found near the dead assailant.

Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell and Deputy William Zigan remained in stable condition after the shootings in Clarkesville, Ga., about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman said Monday.

The two men were responding to a domestic call when Anthony Giaquinta, 40, opened fire, authorities said. Giaquinta then went on the run for several hours before he and an unidentified man were found dead behind a house in the area, authorities said. Law enforcement officials on Monday did not offer information on the unidentified man and it was not clear how he and Giaquinta died.

Giaquinta’s wife was also not identified.

Both Terrell and Zigan were taken to a hospital in Gainesville, Ga., for treatment, GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang said late Sunday.

A LinkedIn profile under Giaquinta’s name said he had been working as a K9 officer at the Habersham County sheriff’s office since 2009, and he joined a company called Custom Canine in 2013, according to a news release from the company’s site.

Giaquinta’s capture of a fugitive was featured in this 2011 news story. Other news stories said he previously worked at the Gainesville Police Department.

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