Central Precinct detectives late Thursday night charged a Glynn County, Georgia, sheriff’s deputy with attempted criminal homicide in connection with the critical shooting of his wife inside their room at the Holston House hotel on 7th Avenue North downtown.
Randy Austin, 59, of Jesup, Georgia, is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond.
Officers responded to the shooting call at 4:02 p.m. Lisa Austin, 50, had suffered gunshot wounds from the same round to her right arm and head. She remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Randy Austin told detectives that the shooting occurred after he and his wife returned to their room after socializing downtown, which included drinking. Austin said he placed his pistol on the nightstand, walked away and then heard a shot. Austin claimed that he did not shoot his wife, nor, he said, did she shoot herself. Preliminary evidence suggests that Austin’s right arm was up in a defensive posture and that she was squatting or kneeling at the time of the shooting.
