A misunderstanding led to a frightening Christmas night shootout between an Irwin County man and a deputy.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.
The deputies responded to a home where William Elrod IV was staying after silent burglar alarm at the home sounded.
It was almost a Christmas Day tragedy. Deputies thought a house was being broken into. Elrod thought the officers were burglars. That is when five shots were exchanged between Elrod and a deputy.
The security system on the house on Evergreen Drive sent out a silent alarm on Christmas night. William Elrod IV was in the house and he punched in the wrong numbers by mistake. That is when Irwin County Deputies Gene Mitchell and Michael Owens came out. They thought the house had been burglarized.
"What they saw when they looked in there through the glass on the back porch, it looked like a TV was laying on the bed and some guns were out of the gun cabinet and that sort of made them think also," said Irwin County Sheriff Donnie Youghn. "But, they were hollering 'Sheriff's Office,' both of them."
But, Elrod did not know the alarm had sent the signal to deputies. He did not expect anyone to be coming to the house.
"When the deputies came around with the flashlights and were hollering Sheriff's office and everything, I think the person in the house actually thought they were being broken in to," said Sheriff Youghn. "That's when he fired a shot at the deputy. And of course, the deputy returned fire."
Five shots were fired in total. One shotgun blast from Elrod and four shots from the deputy. Police say Elrod did not intend harm.
"The person inside maybe panicked or got tunnel vision or whatever," said Sheriff Youghn. "I think it was innocent on his part that he fired at the officer."
One of the bullets grazed Elrod's neck, but he was not seriously injured and did not get medical attention. The deputies will not see any disciplinary action.
"It's just one of those circumstances," said Sheriff Youghn. "You know, the officer returned fire. They were doing their job. The officer certainly did not do anything wrong."
Investigators say no charges will be filed.
The GBI investigator we spoke with said he had never seen anything like this where the homeowner thought police were burglars. And deputies thought the home was already being burglarized.
The Irwin County Sheriff says he'll look at this case and determine if he needs to change the way his deputies respond to silent house alarms.
