Deputy wounded, local man dead following exchange of gunfire at house

LAKE SINCLAIR – A domestic argument between a recently divorced couple turned violent in Baldwin County Saturday morning, leading to an exchange of gunfire between a deputy sheriff and a man at a residence at Lake Sinclair, local and state authorities say.

The deputy was wounded during the shootout. The other man was found deceased inside the residence.

Four other people who had been awaiting the arrival of a deputy after the domestic argument turned physical ran into the house when 58-year-old Rexell Dallas Rice returned armed with several guns.

The back-to-back incidents happened at a residence at the intersection of Kay Avenue and Bob White Circle, which runs off Sinclair Marina Road.

Neither of the four people who ran into the home was injured.

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee identified the deputy as Alex Rickey, who formerly worked with the Milledgeville Police Department and Eatonton Police Department before joining the sheriff’s office.

“A projectile hit him in his vest, but he’s fine,” Massee told The Union-Recorder via telephone shortly after the exchange of gunfire unfolded.

The sheriff said that the shooter was deceased.

“We can’t give you an answer at this time as to the cause of his death, truly, other than if it was as a result of our responding deputy returning gunfire or if it was self-inflicted. “We can’t answer that at this time.”

Though Rice had been dead for some time, he was not officially pronounced deceased until 2:15 p.m., according to Baldwin County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Chapple.

Authorities had already determined that he was dead inside the house. They continued processing the crime scene before the coroner’s office was allowed to go inside to officially pronounce the victim deceased and affix a time of death.

Chapple said Rice’s body would be taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Dry Branch where an autopsy would be performed within the next few days. The autopsy will determine the cause and manner of Rice’s death.

Mary Chandler, special agent in-charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 6 Office in Milledgeville, received a call shortly after 10 a.m. from Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Brad King requesting that the GBI investigate the officer-involved shooting.

Chandler was asked by the newspaper to explain how the events transpired.

“The offender/suspect went to the house earlier, and during that time, an altercation occurred between him and his ex-wife,” Chandler said.

During the incident, the man’s ex-wife was slightly injured. Rice left the residence, and a 911 call was placed for help.

“The man came back shortly thereafter,” Chandler said.

The man’s ex-wife, a relative and two neighbors were outside when Rice pulled up, and they saw him get a gun out of a vehicle, Chandler said.

“They hollered out, he’s got a gun; he’s got a gun,” she said. “They then ran back inside and barricaded themselves into a bedroom — all four of them.”

Chandler said Rice began hooting before he made his way into the house. He continued shooting but never made entry into the bedroom where the four people had gone to escape the gunfire.

“The reason why the suspect didn’t try to get to those victims is because the deputy got there so quickly,” Chandler said. “The deputy’s quick response saved those victims.”

A short time later, Deputy Rickey arrived at the residence as the first law enforcement officer on the scene.

“The deputy immediately encountered the armed man and gave verbal commands before they exchanged gunfire,” Chandler said. “The deputy was later hit in his (bulletproof) vest by a shotgun.”

Once the exchange of gunfire erupted between the gunman and the deputy, a 911 dispatcher was informed of what was taking place and immediately notified local law enforcement agencies.

Chandler said deputies and detectives with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, officers and detectives with the Milledgeville Police Department, and troopers from the Georgia State Patrol arrived on the scene.

Deputy Rickey was checked at the scene by personnel with Atrium Health Navicent Emergency Medical Services. He was later taken by ambulance to the emergency department of Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin hospital in Milledgeville, where he was seen and released.

“They then used drones to determine where the suspect was at that time,” Chandler said. “They could see that he was down in a room of the house.”

It wasn’t long before authorities made entry into the residence and determined that he was deceased.

“Around him were three guns, including a shotgun,” Chandler said. “We then got the four people out of the bedroom.”

Chandler said Rice went to the residence to retrieve some of his personal items.

“And that’s when the altercation occurred between him and his ex-wife,” the veteran law enforcement officer said. “The altercation then became physical between him and her and resulted in minor injuries to her.”

It took GBI agents several hours to process the crime scene. There were several gunshots, but Chandler said she couldn’t say how many because the scene was still being examined late Saturday afternoon.

GBI Special Agent Scott Goodwin is the case agent.

Deputy Rickey was recovering at his home Saturday night.