Paulding County man kills man in shootout; deputies say he was defending himself

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Paulding County deputies said a man shot and killed another man as he was staving off an attack last week.

Just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, a caller reached out to Paulding E-911 about a shooting that happened on Crossroads Church Road in Rockmart, Georgia.

Paulding deputies arrived and found three people who had been shot, one of who had died.

Detectives and Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents later determined that 38-year-old Brandon Donaldson had been sleeping in his driveway when 34-year-old Troy Douglas Sparks and 35-year-old Brandon Michael Stephens began assaulting him with some type of blunt object.

Donaldson and Stephens then started shooting at each other and Stephens was hit and killed.

Deputies determined Donaldson was acting in self-defense during the dispute.

Sparks is being charged with murder and aggravated assault.

The sheriff’s office said that Stephens and Sparks had prior issues with Donaldson.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Tip Line at (770) 443-3047 or send a message via the Paulding Sheriff mobile app.