CHATSWORTH, Ga. — A woman who the sheriff said was shot to death by her husband, who later shot himself in the head after a standoff with a SWAT team, was remembered as kind-hearted and giving by a family member.

Eli Hawkins, the great-nephew of Johnnie Shoemaker Cannon who lives in the two-story home where she was shot, said it was another tragedy for his family. He said his grandfather’s wife died of Alzheimer’s “four or five weeks” ago and his great-aunt had been helping wherever she could. 

“She was a great person and the kind of person who would give you the shirt off her back,” Hawkins said. “She would come to my grandfather’s home and she would clean the house for no reason. From what I know, they got into an argument and he told my grandfather that he was about to shoot her.”

Oliver Scott Cannon shot and killed Johnnie  Cannon and later shot himself in the head after a nearly three-hour standoff with authorities, according to Murray County Sheriff Gary Langford. Langford said Oliver Cannon was taken to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga and called his condition “critical.”

Johnnie Cannon was shot in the yard of the house she was living in Monday morning around 9:58 off of Leonard Bridge Road at Highland Way. Langford said the couple had been married for more than 30 years but were living in separate locations. Langford said Johnnie Cannon was found on the ground in front of a basement door at the home and was taken to Murray Medical Center where she died from a single gunshot wound. 

Mike Johns, who lives across Highland Way from where the shooting took place, said it was his understanding the two were going through a divorce. 

“He came over raising hell,” said Johns. “You could hear an argument going on. Said something about divorce papers, and next thing you know, ‘Pow!’ My neighbor said he heard her say, ‘Godd— you!’ after she was shot. We knew that he and she were having problems.”

Authorities found Oliver Cannon at his residence on Holly Creek Drive off Berry Bennett Road outside of the Spring Place community. A Georgia State Patrol SWAT team was called in from Atlanta, and several loud bangs from tear gas cannisters being fired into the residence could be heard. Langford said the decision to use the tear gas came after authorities had spent hours on the phone with Oliver Cannon urging him to turn himself in.

“(We) put several cannisters of tear gas into the trailer,” Langford said. “We heard a gunshot from inside of the trailer, and after a few minutes, he come walking out onto the porch. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. … Obviously, he apparently killed his wife, and they were married for 30-something years. When we arrived at the scene, he wouldn’t come out, we were talking to him. We assumed he was still armed and apparently he was.”

Coker Elementary and Spring Place Elementary were put on lockdown by Murray County Schools officials after they were notified by the sheriff’s office of the first shooting. Superintendent Eric McFee said his office was notified at 10:05 a.m. Both Coker and Spring Place are on Leonard Bridge Road, and Langford said both had school resource officers to help with the situation. 

After Oliver Cannon was found at another location, Langford contacted school officials, and McFee said the lockdown was called off around 12:30 p.m.

Langford said if Oliver Cannon survives he could face a murder charge. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation but GBI representatives made no statements at the scene on Monday.

Langford said in addition to Murray County sheriff’s deputies and investigators and the cooperation of the Georgia State Patrol and the GBI, the Chatsworth Police Department and first responders from the Murray County Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services assisted with the investigation.