Photo provided by a citizen
Personnel with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and sheriff’s office personnel from Cherokee County, Alabama were attempting to apprehend a fugitive from justice when a short pursuit began on Wednesday afternoon. After a short standoff ended on U.S. Hwy 411 in Leesburg, AL, Jeremiah James Vandagriff of Manchester was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gun shot wound.
Vandagriff age 33 of West Toliver Lake Road, Manchester was wanted in connection for burglaries.
Hours before the shooting, police arrested another fugitive, Ricky C. Thomison, without incident after the detectives from Coffee County, Tennessee alerted them that two suspects wanted in burglaries and thefts might be in the Cherokee County area. He was brought back to Coffee County.
Investigators recovered a “large amount” of stolen property, including weapons and jewelry, according to a news release from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigations, Cherokee County Major Crimes Unit, Cherokee County Coroner’s Office, and Sheriff’s Office investigators are in charge of investigating the incident.
