Houston County SRT Deputy saves 2-yr-old

A peaceful Saturday night in Centerville took a tragic turn into a shocking hostage situation involving three young children and resulted in the death of the perpetrator.

At approximately 11:50 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, the Centerville Police Department was dispatched to 305 Village Walk in response to a 911 call regarding a domestic disturbance between Shawn and Melissa Evanuk in the driveway of the residence. As law enforcement arrived on the scene, 48-year-old Shawn Michael Evanuk charged into the residence, made several threatening statements aloud and barricaded himself in the home with three children as hostages. The hostages were the children of Evanuk, ages four, two and one. Melissa Evanuk was taken to safety while the Houston County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team (SRT) was alerted of the situation.

“With some of the things that he was saying, you didn’t know what he was going to do,” Head Special Agent Todd Crosby said regarding the threats Evanuk declared after letting down the garage door to the residence.

Evanuk was charged with simple battery family violence in February of this year. According to Crosby, “In the way the law reads, if you live together, married or not, and an incident occurs where one person receives injury or is struck and it can be proven, that’s [considered] family violence.”

A press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations revealed that Evanuk was “out of jail on bond” and had clearly violated his bond agreement by coming to the residence, since the agreement stipulated that he was required to stay away. 

After the Houston County SRT arrived, Evanuk reportedly released the oldest and youngest children, keeping the middle child inside the home. According to the press release, “Information was learned that Evanuk was threatening harm to the two-year-old and to burn the house down with them in it.” Negotiators attempted to reason with Evanuk, but were reportedly unsuccessful.

After a period of time, the SRT was able to breach the home and had brief contact with Evanuk, who reports say was armed with a knife. After several commands to lower the weapon, to which Evanuk refused, a physical altercation ensued, resulting in a single shot by an SRT member aimed at Evanuk. The shot proved fatal, and Evanuk was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Crosby, none of the children were reported to have been physically harmed during the episode. 

Since the incident involved an officer related shooting, the GBI was called to the scene at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, March 21 in response to the situation for investigation. The final statement of the GBI’s press release states, “Evanuk will be transported to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Upon completion, it will be turned over to the Houston Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.”

Head Special Agent Todd Crosby is leading the investigation.

HHJ News