Police kill a man in a burning Georgia house, finding a woman dead and others trapped

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This article was published 04/09/2025 (203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOCUST GROVE, Ga. (AP) — Police in an Atlanta suburb say they shot and killed a man inside a burning house early Thursday, then found a woman dead with burns and rescued two other women and a child who were inside a bedroom.

Officers responded around 3:40 a.m. to a report of a house fire with people trapped inside, Locust Grove Police Chief Derrick Austin said. They broke through the back door and found Stefan Lee, 29, wielding a large knife. Lee refused commands to drop the knife, police said, before officers fired a Taser and a bean bag shotgun, which were both ineffective.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says Lee then rushed at officers with the knife and officers shot Lee. He died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Firefighters who were putting out the fire in an upstairs bedroom found Jazzlyn Philips, 26, dead with burns there. It is not clear what caused her death. Officers found the three others, who had locked themselves in a second bedroom. Police escorted them safely outside.

Officials are investigating what caused the fire. “We assume it’s arson, but we don’t know,” Austin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Authorities in the town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta haven’t explained whether all the people involved are related. GBI is performing autopsies on Lee and Phillips.

No officers were injured.

GBI is leading an inquiry into the police shooting, as is standard procedure. The Henry County district attorney will then decide whether any criminal charges are warranted.