On Friday, September 29, 2017, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was requested by the Polk County Police Department to investigate the shooting of two of their officers.
At approximately 10:56 am, Officer David Goodrich was dispatched to a suspicious vehicle located on Santa Claus Road in Polk County. Goodrich identified the vehicle as being stolen from Tennessee. Detective Kristen Hearne, 29, also arrived on the scene to assist Goodrich. While checking on the vehicle, the two officers made contact with Seth Brandon Spangler, 31, and Samantha Roof, 22, who walked up from a wood line. While the officers were speaking with the two, Spangler pulled a handgun and fired. Goodrich was shot in his bulletproof vest. Hearne was fatally shot multiple times.
Spangler and Roof fled the scene and a search of the area involving local, state, and federal agencies began. Roof was caught a short time later. At approximately 2:48 pm, Spangler appeared out of the woods and was arrested. Spangler and Ruth are charged with murder and aggravated assault. Both are being held in the Polk County Jail.
An autopsy was performed tonight at the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur. Preliminary information indicates that Hearne was shot at least four times. Due to the location of the fatal wound, it is unlikely that a body armor vest would have prevented her death.
Anyone with information concerning the case is asked to call the GBI office in Calhoun at 706-624-1424.
The following agencies responded to the call for assistance: Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Cedartown Police Department, Polk County Fire and Rescue, Polk County EMA, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd County Police Department, Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, Haralson Paulding Drug Task Force, Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force, Rockmart Police Department, Atlanta Police Department Aviation, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, Georgia State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
