Gerald Bates, a 49-year-old firefighter, was found fatally shot in a home on Ferguson Drive in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 7, 2024. Authorities say the death arose from a domestic dispute with his long-term girlfriend, 41-year-old Tammie Williams, with whom he had been in a relationship for more than a decade.

After Bates was discovered, officers encountered a standoff when Williams barricaded herself inside the residence. The standoff ended when the Jackson Police Department’s SWAT team used tear gas to take her into custody. Williams was charged in connection with the shooting and also faces a charge of possession of a stolen firearm.

Bates’s daughters say the couple’s relationship had a history of turmoil and that Williams had made threats against their father’s life on multiple occasions. At Williams’s initial court appearance a judge denied bond, calling her an extreme danger to the community; she requested a mental evaluation. The case is proceeding through the Hinds County courts.

If anyone has information about Bates, the relationship, or the events leading up to April 7, please come forward to assist the ongoing investigation.