On the afternoon of March 22, 2011, Senior Police Officer Elmer Buddy Christian III, 34, was shot and killed in Athens, Georgia while responding to a call that an officer had been shot. Christian, a member of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department who also served as a volunteer firefighter and church deacon, was a husband and father of two young children. He was described as gentle and dedicated to his community.

The violence began earlier when officers sought 33-year-old Jamie Hood in connection with an alleged carjacking and kidnapping. After another officer was wounded when Hood opened fire during a traffic stop, Christian encountered Hood while responding to that shooting; Hood fired into Christian’s patrol car, fatally wounding him. Hood fled, triggering a four-day manhunt that included road closures, school lockdowns and a hostage situation before he surrendered on live television.

At trial Hood, representing himself, admitted shooting both officers and said he feared law enforcement because of a past conviction he contested and the earlier death of his brother during a police encounter. In July 2015 a jury convicted Hood on multiple counts, including the malice murder of Officer Christian and the attempted murder of the other officer, and sentenced him to life without parole.