DA thankful Wrightsville officer was able to protect firefighter in sword attack

WRIGHTSVILLE – The Dublin Judicial District Attorney called the sword attack on a Wrightsville firefighter “a tragic situation” while a local restaurant helped raise money for the victim.

DA Harold McLendon said there were a lot of people at the Cattle Bay Restaurant, which partnered with Parker Seafood Market to hold a benefit for Wrightsville firefighter Chad Wombles. The benefit was so successful that Cattle Bay posted they ran out of food and would be closed the day after the fundraiser.

“They had people in line waiting to get in,” the DA said. 

McLendon said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the case where Wombles was attacked by Diamond Daspin Seltzer, 32, with a Wakizashi sword around midnight on Oct. 27 outside the SideTrack convenience store on East College Street. According to McLendon, Wombles, 46, was buying propane gas to cook fish for a group the next day and was outside talking with Wrightsville Police Officer Jay Hood who was sitting in his patrol car. 

“They were talking when all of a sudden this guy came up behind Chad,” McLendon said. 

The officer shouted out to Chad, but Seltzer attacked Wombles

“The guy cuts his right hand off and left thumb,” McLendon said. “Chad went to the ground and the guy drew (the sword) back in an attempt to cut his head off. The officer was able to get out of his car and shoot (the man).

“This is such a tragic situation, but, what a tragedy it would have been had the officer not been there,” he added. “There is no way Chad would be here now because this man would have chopped his head off. The officer ended the threat. The officer did a heroic thing, but we’ll do a formal investigation and we’ll go from there.”  

Seltzer was transported to Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin where he passed away. He was taken to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy. 

McLendon said he visited Wombles the next morning.

“He told me he was doing fine and (medical officials) had just put his hand back on,” McLendon said. “When he was put in the backseat of the police vehicle, he prayed to God and felt a big calm. He knew God was present and he knew everything was going to be alright. When I talked to him the next morning, his hand and thumb were back on.”