Woman dead, man with knife killed by police in burning home, chief says

Locust Grove police fatally shot a knife-wielding man after responding to a house fire Thursday morning and later found a woman dead inside a burning bedroom, authorities said.

Officers and Henry County firefighters were called about 3:40 a.m. to the blaze in the 1700 block of Cadence Street. Knowing people were trapped inside the burning two-story residence, officers entered the back door and saw a man armed with a large knife, according to police Chief Derrick B. Austin.

Austin said the man refused commands to drop the knife before officers used a Taser and a bean bag shotgun, which were both ineffective.

“Finally, they reverted to their firearm for lethal force, and the suspect was shot by the Locust Grove officers,” Austin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He did die at the sc