Coweta County Battalion Fire Chief Killed in Shootout After Assisting Crash Victims in Alabama

On January 19, 2025, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Chambers County deputies responded to a traffic accident involving a deer on County Road 267 near U.S. 431 in Stroud, Alabama. Upon arrival, deputies discovered three individuals with gunshot wounds. One of them, James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, from Moreland, Georgia, was pronounced deceased. The other two victims were airlifted to trauma centers in LaGrange and Columbus.

The initial investigation reveals that Cauthen, a Battalion Fire Chief with Coweta County Fire Rescue, had stopped to assist those involved in the accident. As he and the driver involved in the accident approached the nearby home of 33-year-old William Randall Franklin to ask for help, Franklin opened fire on them without warning. The driver, who was armed, returned fire, wounding Franklin.

In the aftermath, Chief Cauthen attempted to cross the street but collapsed in a nearby ditch. He succumbed to his injuries before deputies arrived. Despite being injured, the driver is expected to recover, and his wife, who had remained in the car, was uninjured during the shootout.

Franklin also sustained injuries and is currently being treated at Piedmont Medical Center. Murder charges have been filed against him, and he will be arrested once released from the hospital.

The Coweta County Fire Rescue issued a heartfelt statement mourning the loss of Chief Cauthen, who had served the department for over 24 years. “He was an amazing, hard-working man with a gentle soul,” the department said in their statement. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Cauthen’s family, friends, and our brothers and sisters in the Fire Rescue family.”

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.