More On: Richard Sigman
A Georgia college professor is accused of shooting and killing a new student
Police and local news say that an 18-year-old girl was shot and killed by a professor at the Georgia university she planned to attend in the fall.
Richard Sigman, age 47, was arrested and charged with murder, having a gun, and aggravated assault in the death of Anna Jones on Saturday. Jones had just graduated from high school and was going to start college at the University of West Georgia as a freshman.
Carrollton police said that a man told security at Leopoldo's, a local pizza place, that Sigman had threatened to shoot him after the two got into an argument around midnight.
Police say that when security came up to the professor, they saw that he had a gun and told him to leave.
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.
After the charges were brought against Sigman, the University of West Georgia said he was fired. A university representative told 11Alive News that Jones had signed up to attend the school as a first-year student.
"The University of West Georgia has learned that one of its students, Anna Jones, died earlier today after an incident that happened off campus," CBS 46 quotes school president Brendan Kelly as saying in a statement. "UWG fired Richard Sigman and is still working with the Carrollton Police Department, which is in charge of this ongoing investigation."
Kelly also said, "On behalf of the university, we want Anna's family and many friends to know how sorry we are."
Jones graduated from Mount Zion High School in 2022.
In a Facebook post, the school said, "Anna loved this school and this community, and she will be missed by many." "Please think of and pray for her family and friends as they go through this hard time."
One of Jones's friends told CBS 46 that she was "a pretty, kind, caring girl."
"I will always miss her," said Ethan Lepard, who was her friend. "There are so many good things about that person that no one could name them all."
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