CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — An Army soldier has died from a self-inflicted gunshot injury after deputies say and killed his ex-wife and shot her mother as she held their 4-month-old.
Christopher Thomas, 30, attempted to commit suicide near a Walmart in Dallas, Georgia just after 6 p.m. He died from his injuries Tuesday morning, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
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Deputies said they responded to a shooting at 9:45 p.m. Sunday near Autumn Brook Drive in Canton and found two people shot inside.
Victoria Thomas, 30, died from her injuries. Her mother, Myrna Garcia, was taken to the Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in critical condition. Thomas’ two children who were inside the home at the time of the shooting were not injured.
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Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach learned that Christopher Thomas is an Army veteran who was enlisted as late as December. A photo from his ex-wife’s Facebook page shows her with Thomas when he returned home from duty just before Christmas.
Friends of the family said he has much shorter hair than in photos released by deputies.
A neighbor said he heard shots around 9:49 p.m. Sunday Garcia’s home, where Victoria Thomas was staying with her two boys.
Court records from Cobb County show Thomas was arrested just before the New Year for strangling his then-wife, punching her in the face and sending her to the hospital while she was around eight months pregnant.
Victoria Thomas then divorced him and moved in with her mother.
Neighbors said they had no clue about the former couple’s violent past.
“We seen him a couple of times and he always waved. Super nice,” a neighbor said. “Never knew anything was going on.”
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