Burke County authorities are investigating how a pair of double homicides committed Sunday could be related.
The man whom authorities pursued as a person of interest in the slayings – Adolphus Christopher Morris, 44 – died in a short shootout with police in the middle of the town of Sardis.
The victims' families have been notified but the victims' identities have not been publicly disclosed.
"It's been a crazy 24 hours," Chief Deputy Lee Webster said Monday at a press conference at the Burke County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies on Sunday evening responded to a report of an "unresponsive person" at an address on Twin Lakes Road. They found a man and woman, declared dead
by the coroner's office at 8:41 p.m.
Shortly after, deputies got a call to conduct a welfare check at an address on Tom Bargeron Road. They found the house's door open and two women, who were declared dead at 10:17 p.m.
Investigators tried to contact Morris, believed at the time to be traveling with his grandmother in a red Ford Escape, according to the BCSO. Deputies saw a vehicle matching that description near the intersection of Burke Veterans Parkway and state Highway 56. The driver fled before a full traffic stop could be conducted.
Other officers set up tire-deflating Stop Sticks on the outskirts of Sardis to stop the fleeing car. The tires deflated but the car continued moving on its rims until reaching near the center of Sardis, where state Highways 23 and 24 intersect.
After jumping a curb and hitting a tree, stopping the car, Morris emerged from the car and opened fire on deputies, according to the BCSO. Officers returned fire, hitting and killing Morris. His grandmother was unharmed.
A separate investigation is being pursued to learn more about the officer-involved shooting that killed Morris.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Burke probes whether 4 killings are linked after suspect dies
