The State Bureau of Investigation continues to examine what led deputies to shoot and kill an Elkmont man Sunday.

Deputies with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in the 22000 block of Sugar Way in rural western Limestone County twice in about six hours Sunday for George Dison, 57. Each call followed a domestic violence incident that reportedly involved Dison. The first call occurred around 11 a.m. and was in reference to Dison being armed with a shotgun and threatening family members, said Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely.

“When deputies arrived at the scene, Mr. Dison had ran off into the woods,” Blakely said. “The deputies searched around the perimeter there — even went down into the woods — and were unable to find Mr. Dison.”

LCSO received a second call from Dison’s family around 5 p.m. when Dison went back to the home and tried to break in while threatening to harm family members and burn the house down, Blakely said.

When deputies responded to the second call to look for Dison, he emerged from a wooded area brandishing a shotgun, the sheriff said.

“After deputies ordered Dison to drop the weapon, he racked a round into the weapon, lowered it and pointed it at them, at which time they opened fire,” LCSO Public Information Officer Stephen Young said in a press release Monday.

Dison was pronounced dead at the scene, Young said.

“It’s a shame it had to occur this way, but by all appearances, it looks like (the deputies) didn’t have any other choice,” Young said Sunday night in a field near the home.

Limestone County Coroner Mike West said an autopsy will be performed at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. SBI was called to assist in the investigation, as is procedure with any officer-involved shooting, Young said.

Dison had been arrested over the past two decades for domestic violence, menacing and assault charges by Athens Police Department and LCSO. Young said deputies had visited his residence multiple times over the last few years “for various reasons.”

Blakely offered sincere sympathy to Dison’s family, saying he knew them personally and they were “good people.” At the same time, he said, the department is grateful the deputies who were involved were able to return home to their families.

“As you know, this job sometimes has an element of danger that forces law enforcement to make a decision that can be the difference between the suspect not going home at night or even the officers or the deputies not returning home,” Blakely said. “Sometimes they aren’t even given time to make that decision, as we recently witnessed with Sheriff ‘Big John’ Williams in Lowndes County and also (Agent Billy Fred) Clardy over there in Madison County.”

Blakely said the deputies were wearing body cameras, which the state will review. They had not been placed on administrative leave as of Monday morning, and counseling would be provided, Blakely said.

“I’m kind of the old school that if you get thrown off a horse, the quicker you can get back on, the better off you are,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s the best therapy for you.”

He said it did not appear deputies violated policy or that there was any wrongdoing on their part.

“We will await the investigation by the SBI and our local district attorney,” Blakely said.