Captain Raymond Bussell Merritt

Raymond Bussell Merritt

Captain Raymond Merritt was shot and killed while answering a domestic disturbance call on Bill Bowen Road in Tifton.

When Captain Merritt arrived at the home, he and other officers attempted to talk to a man who had barricaded himself in a separate building on the property after striking his wife and daughter. As the officers and deputies stepped onto the porch of the house, the man fired, striking Captain Merritt. Other officers and deputies returned fire, wounding the subject.

The suspect pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He died in 2013.

Captain Merritt was a United States Army veteran who had served with the Tift County Sheriff's Office for 19 years and previously served with the Tifton Police Department. He was survived by his wife and two children.