Villa Rica shooting and deadly standoff linked to earlier homicide on Conners Road

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office reported that a shooting on Conners Road in Villa Rica, which injured a man, is connected to a homicide that occurred earlier on the same street. The investigation involves three violent incidents over 48 hours in the 8000 block of Conners Road.

On November 3, deputies responded to a suspicious death call and found Eugene Scales dead on the property. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide.

The following day, deputies responded to gunfire at the same location and found an unidentified man who had been shot. He was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

While investigating the shooting, deputies encountered 53-year-old Bradley Cox, who barricaded himself inside his home. After failed negotiations, SWAT deputies breached the house. Cox confronted deputies with a sword, and two deputies fatally shot him.

Authorities believe the shooting of the wounded victim and the standoff with Cox are directly linked to Scales' murder. The injured man's identity and motive for the gunfire have not been released, nor has Cox been officially named a suspect in the homicide.