BROOKS COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL) - A family is in mourning Friday night after they say law enforcement shot and killed their loved one.
Officials at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation still haven't confirmed the death of 31-year-old Timothy Smothers, Jr. However, his father tells WTXL his son was shot and killed when he refused to turn himself over to deputies who had a warrant for his arrest.
"I could've taken my son out of there," said Timothy Smothers. "There would be nobody dead right now."
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Brooks County deputies went to a trailer home to serve a warrant for probation violation Friday afternoon. During the attempted arrest, they say the man barricaded himself inside the house.
The Lowndes County SWAT team was called to help. Smothers and other family members showed up and tried to help, too.
"They wouldn't let us go in, period," said Smothers. "They told us if we wouldn't leave, they would place us all under arrest and put us in jail. They even said nobody is gonna get shot, nobody is gonna get shot. Next thing, my son is shot in the chest and dead."
At one point, the trailer home caught on fire. Authorities are still investigating the cause. That's when Smothers says his son was taken to the hospital and his family found out he died.
"My brother went in and identified him. I couldn't do it. I was devastated," said Smothers. "[My son] wasn't all there mentally. He didn't think right but he was a good boy."
Officials say the fire consumed about half the mobile home. Family members tell WTXL that Smothers, Jr. lived there with his grandmother, but they don't believe she was home during the standoff.
