Georgia college professor accused of fatally shooting incoming freshman
An 18-year-old woman was allegedly shot and killed by a professor at the Georgia university that she planned to attend in the fall, according to police and local reports.
Richard Sigman, 47, was arrested and charged with murder, possession of a firearm and aggravated assault in the Saturday death of Anna Jones, a recent high school graduate who was enrolled as an incoming freshman at the University of West Georgia.
Carrollton police said a man had alerted security at Leopoldo’s, a local pizza place, that Sigman threatened to shoot him after the two got into an argument around midnight.
When security approached the professor, they saw he had a weapon and told him to leave, according to cops.
Sigman left and walked toward a parking deck, where he allegedly began shooting into a parked vehicle where Jones was sitting, authorities said.
The young woman was struck and her friends quickly drove her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The University of West Georgia said Sigman was fired after the charges were brought against him. A university spokesperson told 11 Alive News that Jones was enrolled as an incoming freshman at the school.
“The University of West Georgia has learned of the loss of one of its students, Anna Jones, who passed away following an off-campus incident earlier today,” school president Brendan Kelly said in a statement, according to CBS 46. “UWG has terminated the employment of Richard Sigman and continues to work with the city of Carrollton Police Department, which leads this ongoing investigation.”
Kelly added: “On behalf of the university, we wish to convey our deepest condolences to Anna’s family and many friends.”
Jones was a 2022 graduate of the Mount Zion high school.
“Anna loved this school and this community and she will be missed dearly by many,” the school wrote on a Facebook post. “Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time.”
One friend told CBS 46 Jones was a “beautiful, sweet, caring girl.”
“I will miss her forever,” said friend Ethan Lepard. “There are so many good qualities, no one could list them all.”
Cops said Monday there’s no evidence of any link between Sigman and Jones, who was shot twice.
“There was no interaction between him and the girls before this happened,” Carrollton police Sgt. Meredith Browning told The Post.
Investigators are looking into whether Sigman was angered from an earlier dispute with a man at a nearby bar where he was asked to leave prior to the deadly gunfire, Browning said.
“How that transferred into him shooting into the vehicle, we have no idea,” she said.
Sigman, who remains held without bond, is due to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon. It’s unclear if he’s hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
With additional reporting by Joshua Rhett Miller
