A chaotic night in Rainbow City ended Friday with a man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities say, after he set fire to his dad’s house, shot a woman in a passing car, carjacked another vehicle and led police on a chase that ended when he crashed on Williams Street.
Rainbow City police, the Etowah County Joint Special Operations Group and a host of other law enforcement agencies and Rainbow City and Southside fire departments were involved in the response.
Police were trying to put together information and collect evidence at three different crime scenes; here’s what they believe happened.
At about 9:20 p.m. Rainbow City Mayor Joe Taylor said, a call came in about a house fire in the Township Road area. He said the suspect is believed to have set the fire, then fired on vehicles, injuring a woman in an attempt to carjack her vehicle. The reported crimes brought a host of law enforcement agencies into the area.
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He successfully carjacked another vehicle and fled, Taylor said, and Attalla police took up pursuit of the vehicle, with shots fired at officers along the way.
The chase ended on Williams Avenue, where the car crashed, the mayor said, and the subject apparently shot himself.
In the course of the response, a JSOG member was involved in a car crash; he was not injured and it was not known if anyone else was.
As officers worked to collect evidence at that scene, Melea Futral’s family and some friends stood outside their home in Rainbow Estates. She said she first learned something was going on when a family member came home after passing the wreck. They soon learned that was a small part of what was going on.
“When we heard all the cop cars, we tried to stay away from the windows and gathered the kids together,” Futral said.
A neighbor who came over said she’d lived in the neighborhood 53 years and had never seen anything like this.
Officers cordoned off the intersection of Lister Ferry Road and Joham Street as they searched for evidence, then realized there were apparent spent rounds further down the street, requiring them to extend the boundaries of the crime scene.
The name of the suspect had not been released by authorities as of early Saturday, as the complex investigation continues.
Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.
