Richard Sigman Wiki
Richard Sigman Biography
Who is Richard Sigman ?
A college professor has been charged with murder after he shot and killed an 18-year-old girl who was about to start her studies at his university in the fall, according to police.
Richard Sigman, a business professor at the University of West Georgia, got into an argument with a man at Leopold’s Pizzeria in Carrollton on Friday night and threatened to shoot him.
Fearing for his life, the man alerted restaurant security around midnight, who understood that Sigman was carrying a concealed weapon and asked him to leave.
Richard Sigman Charged
Outraged, the 47-year-old college professor stormed outside, entered the parking lot and fired multiple shots at a car, where Anna Jones, a recent high school graduate, was sitting.
It is unclear whether Anna was with the man the professor had been arguing with. Her friends rushed her to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead on arrival.
It remains unclear why Sigman discharged his pistol into a parked vehicle, but officers with the Carrollton Police Department arrested the professor early Saturday morning and later confirmed that he had been charged with murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Jones, who had graduated from the local Mount Zion High School weeks before his tragic death, had enrolled as a freshman at the University of West Georgia.
Meanwhile, the university immediately terminated Sigman’s contract in the wake of the shooting, which occurred just a mile and a half from the university grounds.
University President Brendan Kelly said: ‘The University of West Georgia has learned of the loss of one of its students, Anna Jones, who passed away following an incident off campus earlier today.
“UWG has terminated Richard Sigman’s employment and continues to work with the City of Carrollton Police Department, which is leading this ongoing investigation.”
The argument started inside Leopoldo’s Pizza Napoletana on Adamson Square, but spilled out into the parking lot after Sigman threatened to shoot the man with a gun he had hidden on his person.
Then the security guards of the establishment intervened, expelling Sigman and further infuriating the professor.
Detectives say the professor then walked into a parking lot at a courthouse a block from the restaurant and inexplicably opened fire on the parked car Jones was sitting in.
Her friends took her to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
“We know that this news is difficult to process and affects many members of our university community,” he continued.
“We ask that you keep family, friends and all who have been touched by this tragedy in your thoughts during this tremendously difficult time.”
The University added that Sigman, who appears with blood on his face in the booking photo of him, was fired after charges were filed against him.
GoFundMe
A GoFundMe, set up by the friends and family of the tragic victim, left behind a moving tribute to the slain freshman.
Jones, who had been a resident of nearby Jonesboro and a graduate of Mount Zion High School, was remembered by family and friends as “a sweet, beautiful soul [whose] smile would light up a room.”
The girl’s grieving parents wrote: “Like most parents, you never think you’ll need life insurance on your child.”
“This was a senseless and devastating crime that left many broken hearts, a grieving community and a grieving family.”
Georgia Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, whose legislative district includes Carroll County, where the incident occurred, said, “A senseless act of violence resulted in the death of Anna Jones, a Mt. Zion graduate. who was attending the University of West Georgia this fall.
“I am keeping her friends and family in my thoughts and prayers and would ask everyone to do the same.”
Her friend Ethan Lepard told the Post: ‘I will miss her forever. There are so many good qualities that no one could list them all.
Richard Sigman Quick and Facts
- Business lecturer Richard Sigman shot and killed 18-year-old Anna Jones
- Shooting transpired early Saturday in Carrollton, roughly 45 miles from Atlanta
- Cops say Sigman was kicked out of a pizzeria after a dispute with another patron
- Sigman reportedly stormed into the parking lot and unloaded his pistol into a car
- One of his bullets struck Jones, who was an incoming freshman at his college
- The recent high school graduate was grievously wounded and died later that day
- Sigman meanwhile is now behind bars and out of a job as a result of the shooting
- He was charged with murder, aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm
