The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department identified the dead man as Lt. Don Bassett, a 17-year veteran of the squad... Investigators believe that just before he was shot, he had been involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend... The two struggled over a handgun, and the weapon discharged...VIDEO
COP SLAIN; WOMAN QUESTIONED
Off-duty deputy was shot in a domestic dispute in his house. The killing disrupts a Dacula neighborhood.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Mike Morris
Friday, May 01, 2009
An off-duty Gwinnett County sheriff's deputy was shot and killed Thursday morning in Dacula. The incident occurred about 1:30 a.m. during a domestic dispute at a house on Austin Ridge Drive, said Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli. Schiralli identified the deputy as 38-year-old Donald Bassett, a 17-year veteran of the department. "Investigators believe that just before he was shot, he had been involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, who also lived at the location," Schiralli said. The two struggled over a handgun, and the weapon discharged, striking Bassett, who later died at Gwinnett Medical Center. Investigators were still interviewing the woman and had not filed any charges late Thursday afternoon, Schiralli said. Police have not released the woman's name, but family members at the scene identified her as 20-year-old Morgan Schrader. Schrader's brother, Adam, said his sister and Bassett got engaged on New Year's Eve and planned to marry next April. "They just went canoeing Sunday, and we were baby-sitting the dog, and they came back and were all happy," Adam Schrader said. He said his sister is a Georgia State University student who has worked part time at the Sheriff's Department. "Our thoughts are with the family and his children," said department spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais. She said Bassett was a divorced father of four... [Full article here]
The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department identified the dead man as Lt. Don Bassett, a 17-year veteran of the squad
mysouthwestga.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 11:09 a.m.
A shooting has claimed the life of an off-duty Gwinnett County sheriff's deputy. The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department identified the dead man as Lt. Don Bassett, a 17-year veteran of the squad... [Full article here]
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QUESTIONS LINGER ABOUT HOW SLAIN DEPUTY, 38, WAS KILLED
ReplyDeleteGwinett Daily Post
By Josh Green
5/5/2009
LAWRENCEVILLE - More than 200 law enforcement officials and family members packed the funeral Monday of Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department Lt. Don Bassett, while questions lingered as to how exactly he died.
Officers from across Gwinnett and DeKalb counties honored the 17-year veteran and member of the department's professional standards unit at Corinth Baptist Church in Loganville. Bassett was later buried at Hill Haven Memory Gardens in Monroe, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais said.
"It's a huge void for those who worked closely with him and everyone who knew him here," she said of the father of four.
Meanwhile, investigators with the Gwinnett police homicide unit plan to meet today to discuss how to move forward with the case, said that department's spokesman, Cpl. David Schiralli.
Police believe the 38-year-old deputy was involved in a domestic dispute with his live-in fiancee, Morgan Schrader, 20, about 1:30 a.m. Thursday at their Dacula home. During the dispute, a handgun was produced and a struggle ensued, ending when the gun fired. Investigators have not said how the gun discharged.
Schrader was interviewed at length and released from police custody the same day. Bassett died shortly after the shooting at Gwinnett Medical Center.
A report released Monday by Gwinnett police notes that alcohol was involved in the incident, but does not clarify how. An officer writes in the report that Bassett was found on the floor with a wound to "the stomach area." A neighbor who ran to Bassett's aide when she heard the gun fire said last week the bullet struck his chest.
The neighbor said she couldn't tell if the shooting was accidental or not. The couple had just moved into the tidy, two-story home two months prior and appeared to be happy, neighbors said.
The handgun that killed Bassett was not his department-issued weapon.
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