ROSSVILLE — A fugitive from Dallas, Texas who law enforcement officials say shot and wounded a Tennessee Police officer was shot and killed by the Georgia State Patrol in Catoosa County early Monday morning.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, preliminary information indicates that at on Sunday, Oct. 18, 42-year-old Christopher John Kitts, a fugitive from Dallas, Texas, shot and wounded an East Ridge, Tennessee police officer. Kitts’ abandoned vehicle was located in Rossville, Georgia, at about 3 p.m.
Tennessee and Georgia law enforcement officers began searching for Kitts, and he was located in a wooded area near Old Lakeview Drive and Black Branch Creek in Rossville.
According to police, Kitts began shooting and numerous officers from different agencies returned fire. No one was struck during the incident and police lost contact with Kitts in the woods and continued to track him throughout the night and into Monday morning.
At about 4:30 a.m. Monday, a Georgia State Patrol SWAT team located Kitts in a wooded area behind a residence on Glade Road in Rossville.
Police say Kitts refused to follow commands to surrender and pointed a gun at the officers. Officers fired and shot Kitts, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Kitts’ body will be transported to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy.
No officers were injured during the incident.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once the investigation is completed, the case file will be turned over to the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office for review.
