Sheriff-elect Slaying Suspect in Shootout
E L L E N W O O D, Ga., March 19 -- A former sheriff's deputy whose attorneysays he is a suspect in the sheriff-elect's assassination wasinvolved in a shootout that left one man dead and another wounded,authorities said today.
Neighbors said Patrick Cuffy exchanged gunfire Sunday morningoutside his home with several men who arrived in at least twovehicles. Cuffy, 35, is a central figure in the investigation intothe slaying of Derwin Brown, who was shot 11 times Dec. 15, daysbefore he was to take office as DeKalb County sheriff.
Brown ran as a reformer and had promised to fire 38 workers whenhe took office Jan. 1. His wife and five children found him lyingin the driveway of their home in Decatur.
Sunday's shooting took place in a middle-class subdivisionsoutheast of Atlanta as residents were leaving for church orenjoying the sunshine.
Cuffy and two other men were in police custody this morning.DeKalb police spokeswoman Mikki Jones said Cuffy's friend DaniaHewitt, who was wounded in the shootout, has been charged withmurder in connection with a body found in a park. She said Cuffywould be charged with evidence tampering, a misdemeanor. The nameof the third man in custody was not released.
WXIA-TV quoted Cuffy's attorney, E. Duane Jones, as saying theevidence tampering charge was brought because Cuffy carried a guninto his house after the shooting. Jones also said Cuffy did notfire a shot.
Victim Beaten and Shot
In a statement issued this afternoon, police identified thedead man as Jeffery "Nigel" George but gave no details on hisbackground. The statement said he had been beaten as well as shot.
Cuffy told WAGA-TV that he was talking with Hewitt outside hishouse "when three different vehicles fired at us. Hewitt was shotin both legs, but I believe they were trying to get me."
Hewitt was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital and released. Authorities searched Cuffy's home in January. Jones has saidCuffy was targeted in the Brown case to lead investigators awayfrom the sheriff-elect's real killer.
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