State investigators say officers pursued a man identified by a resident after another man was fatally shot at a Richmond Hill home.
RICHMOND HILL, Ga. — A shooting at a Richmond Hill home early Saturday left one man dead and triggered a police pursuit that ended with a second man found dead inside an SUV, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The GBI identified the men as Mykyle Augustus Barton, 37, and Lawrence Zion Pritchard, 33, both of Richmond Hill. Investigators said Bryan County 911 received a report of shots fired at about 12:14 a.m. Oct. 17 at a home in the 100 block of Golden Grove Lane. The Richmond Hill Police Department responded before asking the state agency to investigate the deaths.
Officers arriving at the home found Barton with multiple apparent gunshot wounds, the GBI said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A resident of the home told officers that Pritchard had shot Barton, according to the agency’s preliminary account. The GBI has not released information about what led to the shooting, and its investigation remains active.
Police located Pritchard near the home after receiving the resident’s account, investigators said. Pritchard then drove away in an SUV. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver did not stop, beginning a pursuit through the Richmond Hill area.
During the pursuit, officers attempted multiple Precision Immobilization Technique maneuvers, commonly known as PIT maneuvers, but the attempts were unsuccessful, according to the GBI. The technique is used by law enforcement to try to force a fleeing vehicle to rotate and come to a stop. The state agency did not release additional details about the route of the pursuit or its duration.
The SUV eventually entered a parking lot in the 12000 block of Georgia Highway 144 and stopped, investigators said. Officers then found Pritchard inside with what the GBI described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The agency’s description is preliminary, and final determinations about the deaths were not announced in its initial statement.
The shooting and pursuit prompted two connected death investigations involving locations several miles apart in Richmond Hill. Early reports from local news organizations showed law enforcement activity during the overnight hours, but authorities initially released few details while investigators worked to establish the sequence of events.
The GBI said the bodies of Barton and Pritchard were to be taken to its Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies. As of Monday, the agency had not announced a motive for the shooting or released additional information about the circumstances leading up to the gunfire. No other deaths or injuries were identified in the agency’s account.
The investigation remains active. Once the GBI completes its work, the case file is expected to be sent to the Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.