Georgia college professor charged with killing student

An 18-year-old girl was reportedly fatally shot by a professor at the University of Georgia she planned to attend in the fall, according to police and local reports.

Richard Sigman, 47, was arrested and charged with murder, possession of a firearm and aggravated assault in the Saturday death of Anna Jones, a recent high school graduate who was enrolled in first grade at the University of West Georgia.

Carrollton police say a man alerted security at Leopoldo’s, a local pizzeria, that Sigman had threatened to shoot him after the two had an argument around midnight.

When security approached the professor, they saw he had a weapon and told him to leave, according to cops.

Sigman left and walked to a parking lot, where he allegedly began shooting at a parked vehicle where Jones was sitting, authorities said.

The young woman was hit and her friends quickly drove her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The University of West Georgia said Sigman was fired after charges were brought against him. A university spokesperson told 11 Alive News that Jones was enrolled as a freshman at the school.

“The University of West Georgia has learned of the loss of one of its students, Anna Jones, who died in an off-campus incident earlier today,” school president Brendan Kelly said. in a statement, according to CBS 46. “UWG has terminated the employment of Richard Sigman and continues to work with the City of Carrollton Police Department, which is conducting this ongoing investigation.

Kelly added: “On behalf of the university, we want to send our deepest condolences to Anna’s family and her many friends.”

Jones graduated in 2022 from Mount Zion High School.

“Anna loved this school and this community and she will be dearly missed,” the school wrote on a Facebook post. “Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time.”

A friend told CBS 46 Jones that he was a “beautiful, sweet and caring girl.”

“I will miss her forever, said friend Ethan Lepard. “There are so many good qualities that no one could list them all.