By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:54 EST, 29 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:50 EST, 29 November 2013 . The homeowner who shot and killed a 72-year-old man with advanced Alzheimer's Disease after he rang his bell when he became lost and confused in the middle of the night might be charged in the man’s death. Ronald Westbrook rang the doorbell of a home at 4am on Wednesday after wandering around in the dark for almost four hours in rural Walker County, Georgia, wearing just a light jacket and a straw hat in the cold 20 degree temperatures. He had walked around three miles from his home by the time he approached the door. Sheriff Steve Wilson said he thinks he approached that particular house because the porch light was on, according to the Chattanooga Times. Scroll down for video... Ronald Westbrook, a 72-year-old with advanced Alzheimer's, was shot dead by a homeowner after he spent four hours wandering around in the dark and banged on the man' door in rural Walker County, Georgia . Joe Hendrix, 34, of Chattanooga, . Tennessee, who had moved into the house two weeks earlier with his . fiancé, went outside to confront the man carrying his handgun. Hendrix's . fiancee, whose name Wilson declined to give, called 911 and stayed on . the phone with an emergency dispatcher who sent two sheriff's office . patrol cars en route. The sheriff said the dispatcher who . stayed on the phone with Hendrix's fiancee wasn't aware Hendrix went . outside the house with a handgun. When Westbrook didn’t react to his verbal commands, Hendrix fired four shots, one which hit him in the chest, killing him. Wilson . said that Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert . ‘Buzz’ Franklin, whom Wilson called to the shooting scene, might bring . charges after reviewing all the evidence, according to Chattanooga Times. ‘We . reserve our options and rights to file charges once the investigation . is complete, if we feel like Georgia law warrants charges being filed,’ Wilson said. Georgia's . 2006 ‘stand-your-ground’ law that allows people to use deadly force to . protect themselves ‘may apply to this case’, Wilson said. A sheriff's car at the scene in Walker County, Georgia in the early hours of Wednesday where a 34-year-old man shot dead a 72-year-old man who had wandered disorientated into his yard . However, Wilson said he felt Hendrix acted wrongly. ‘In . my personal opinion, I believe that he should have stayed inside the . house,’ Wilson said. ‘Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No.’ The sheriff said Hendrix was ‘saddened and heartbroken’ over the shooting. ‘Mr. Hendrix has to live with his actions for the rest of his life.’ Wilson told Chattanooga Times he knew Westbrook, and they attended the same church. ‘Just a fine man, fine family,’ Wilson said. ‘I really hate it for his wife and his children.’ Westbrook's family didn't realize he had wandered off until around the time the shooting occurred. ‘You . can't watch them 24/7,’ Wilson said of people suffering from . Alzheimer's disease, which he said got progressively worse for Westbrook . after he was diagnosed two years ago with dementia.
Ronald Westbrook, 72, rang the doorbell at 4am at a home on a new development after wandering for 4 hours in the dark .
Joe Hendrix, 34, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, fired four shots after the man did not respond to his commands .
Mr Westbrook, a former Air Force pilot, had been left mute by advanced Alzheimer's Disease .
Police say homeowner 'should have stayed inside' until they arrived .
The dispatcher on the phone with Hendrix's wife did not know Hendrix had a handgun when he went outside to confront the elderly man .
Westbrook was 'a fine man', say police .
Georgia's 2006 ‘stand-your-ground’ law that allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves may apply to this case, say police .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:54 EST, 29 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:50 EST, 29 November 2013 . The homeowner who shot and killed a 72-year-old man with advanced Alzheimer's Disease after he rang his bell when he became lost and confused in the middle of the night might be charged in the man’s death. Ronald Westbrook rang the doorbell of a home at 4am on Wednesday after wandering around in the dark for almost four hours in rural Walker County, Georgia, wearing just a light jacket and a straw hat in the cold 20 degree temperatures. He had walked around three miles from his home by the time he approached the door. Sheriff Steve Wilson said he thinks he approached that particular house because the porch light was on, according to the Chattanooga Times. Scroll down for video... Ronald Westbrook, a 72-year-old with advanced Alzheimer's, was shot dead by a homeowner after he spent four hours wandering around in the dark and banged on the man' door in rural Walker County, Georgia . Joe Hendrix, 34, of Chattanooga, . Tennessee, who had moved into the house two weeks earlier with his . fiancé, went outside to confront the man carrying his handgun. Hendrix's . fiancee, whose name Wilson declined to give, called 911 and stayed on . the phone with an emergency dispatcher who sent two sheriff's office . patrol cars en route. The sheriff said the dispatcher who . stayed on the phone with Hendrix's fiancee wasn't aware Hendrix went . outside the house with a handgun. When Westbrook didn’t react to his verbal commands, Hendrix fired four shots, one which hit him in the chest, killing him. Wilson . said that Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert . ‘Buzz’ Franklin, whom Wilson called to the shooting scene, might bring . charges after reviewing all the evidence, according to Chattanooga Times. ‘We . reserve our options and rights to file charges once the investigation . is complete, if we feel like Georgia law warrants charges being filed,’ Wilson said. Georgia's . 2006 ‘stand-your-ground’ law that allows people to use deadly force to . protect themselves ‘may apply to this case’, Wilson said. A sheriff's car at the scene in Walker County, Georgia in the early hours of Wednesday where a 34-year-old man shot dead a 72-year-old man who had wandered disorientated into his yard . However, Wilson said he felt Hendrix acted wrongly. ‘In . my personal opinion, I believe that he should have stayed inside the . house,’ Wilson said. ‘Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No.’ The sheriff said Hendrix was ‘saddened and heartbroken’ over the shooting. ‘Mr. Hendrix has to live with his actions for the rest of his life.’ Wilson told Chattanooga Times he knew Westbrook, and they attended the same church. ‘Just a fine man, fine family,’ Wilson said. ‘I really hate it for his wife and his children.’ Westbrook's family didn't realize he had wandered off until around the time the shooting occurred. ‘You . can't watch them 24/7,’ Wilson said of people suffering from . Alzheimer's disease, which he said got progressively worse for Westbrook . after he was diagnosed two years ago with dementia.
Disease after he rang his bell when he became Westbrook rang the doorbell of a home at 4am on Wednesday after wandering around in the dark for almost four hours in rural Walker County, video... Ronald Westbrook, a 72-year-old with advanced Alzheimer's, was shot dead by a rural Walker County, Georgia . Joe Hendrix, 34, of Chattanooga, . Tennessee, who had moved into went outside to confront the man carrying his phone with Hendrix's fiancee wasn't aware Hendrix Hendrix fired four shots, one which hit him in said. Georgia's . 2006 ‘stand-your-ground’ law that allows people to use deadly force to . protect themselves ‘may apply to this case’, I believe that he should have stayed inside the .