LOCUST GROVE, Ga. — Locust Grove police responding to a house fire shot and killed a man they say refused to put down a knife. They also found a woman dead inside the home.
The officer-involved shooting happened at a home on Cadence Street Thursday morning. Police said the call was initially for a house fire around 3:40 a.m.
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Officers said they arrived, kicked in the back door and found a man with a large knife, which he refused to put down. Police said they Tased the man and used a non-lethal shotgun, but he still refused to drop the knife. That is when they shot and killed him.
He was later identified as 29-year-old Stefan Lee.
Officers went upstairs to assess the fire situation when they found a woman dead inside one of the rooms. Her body had been severely burned. Several other people inside the burning home were able to get out safely.
She was identified as 26-year-old Jazzlyn Philips.
Police are still trying to determine the relationship between Lee and Philips.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says two other women and a small child were present during the incident and escaped the home as police arrived.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones was in the Locust Grove neighborhood all day on Thursday and spoke with neighbors who say they had never seen Lee before.
“I would see her out in the yard when she would come out and different holidays put decorations and things out,” neighbor James Coleman said.
“It’s crazy. Like I told them, you never know what’s going on behind closed doors,” neighbor John Napper said.
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