Two Georgia deputies slain in ambush attack, sheriff asks for prayers

Two deputies with the Cobb County sheriff's office in Georgia were killed Thursday night in what police are calling an ambush shooting.

Sheriff Craig D. Owens told reporters the deputies were serving a warrant when they were ambushed, WSB-TV reported.

Two suspects were taken into custody after a nearly four-hour standoff with police. Cobb County court officials identified the suspects as Christopher Cook and Christopher Golden. They will make their first appearance in court at 4 p.m. on Friday.

The names of the murdered deputies have not been released.

“What I can tell you in this moment is this -- in plain terms it is simple, my two deputies were ambushed this evening and killed,” Owens said Thursday. “The two suspects we believe are the perpetrators of this crime are currently in custody and are being held at the Cobb County Police Department for questioning.”

Shortly after 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Cobb County deputies visited a home in an area west of Marietta to serve a warrant for failure to appear by theft or deception, Owens said.

"From my understanding, the deputies had made an attempt at the home, knocked on the door, rang the doorbell, (and) no one came to the (door)," Owens told reporters. "As they were getting back to their car, the vehicle drove up, and they assumed it was the suspect who lived there, and as they got back to the car — as he got into his car — shots were fired."

Owens said one person opened fire from inside the house and another from a nearby car. The deputies were able to alert police dispatchers to the shooting and call for backup, he recounted.

At 9 p.m., the Cobb County Sheriff's Office reported the deputies had died from their injuries and that SWAT and FAST teams had arrived to confront the suspected shooter.

The suspects were taken into custody around 12:15 a.m., according to WSB.

The two deputies had been with the sheriff's office for more than five years, Owens said.

“Two wives have lost their amazing husbands,” Owens said. “Pray for us because we need it. Our hearts are broken here in Cobb County.”

A neighborhood woman told WSB the community is shocked by the loss of the two officers. She said that neighbors were able to follow the situation on social media as it unfolded and provided snacks and drinks for the investigators.

“We are all heartbroken, so somber here in the neighborhood because they were here, the (officers) were here to protect us and they were doing their job,” Kristen Holloway said. “And we are heartbroken for the families.”

More from WSB:

2 deputies dead, suspect barricaded inside Cobb home, officials confirm | WSB-TVyoutu.be