Richmond Hill, GA: Shooting and police chase leave two men dead, GBI says

Credit: Danny / Any County News · Source: GBI news release, Oct. 17, 2026.

RICHMOND HILL, GA - A shots-fired call on Golden Grove Lane early Friday ended with two Richmond Hill men dead: one shot at a home, and the man accused of shooting him found dead in his SUV after a police chase, the GBI says.

The GBI says Bryan County 911 got a shots-fired call at about 12:14 a.m. Oct. 17 at a home in the 100 block of Golden Grove Lane. Richmond Hill police found Mykyle Augustus Barton with multiple apparent gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A resident told officers that Lawrence Zion Pritchard had shot Barton. Officers found Pritchard near the home, but he drove away in an SUV and refused to stop. Officers tried several PIT maneuvers without success. Pritchard pulled into a parking lot in the 12000 block of Georgia Highway 144 and stopped, and officers found him with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The GBI is investigating at the request of the Richmond Hill Police Department. Both men will be autopsied at the GBI Medical Examiner's Office, and the case file will go to the Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for review. Investigators have not said what led to the shooting. Tips can be sent to the GBI at gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online.

Source: GBI news release, Oct. 17, 2026. Images: WJCL scene photo of the Hwy 144 parking lot, GBI seal, Richmond Hill road photo (Wikimedia Commons).

Sources: GBI news release, Oct. 17, 2026 · WJCL

Images: WJCL night scene photo of patrol cars and crime-scene tape at the Hwy 144 parking lot, the GBI seal, and a Richmond Hill road photo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0). No AI-generated images.

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