A 26-year-old police officer who was shot dead after a man opened fire on him and two sheriff's deputies as they tried to arrest him was expecting his second child any day.

The shooting occurred in Locust Grove, 40 miles southeast of Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday morning as the officers were serving an arrest warrant. The charge was related to a failure to appear in municipal court.

Sheriff's deputies Ralph Sidwell 'Sid' Callaway and Michael Corley arrived at the home first and spoke with the suspected shooter - 39-year-old Tierra Guthrie - for around 10 minutes before trying to arrest him.

He resisted and they called for backup.

Chase Maddox, a 26-year-old married father who had been a police officer for just four years, arrived to help them. All three were shot.

Police officer Chase Maddox, 26, (pictured with his pregnant wife who is expecting their second child) was killed by the suspect

Sheriff's Deputies Michael Corley (left) Ralph Sidwell Callaway (right) were both injured and taken to hospital. Callaway was hit in the lower abdomen and required surgery. Corley's injuries were less serious

Maddox was described by officials as a 'smart young man'.

He and his wife Alex have one son and she is pregnant with their second child.

The young police officer is the only one the police department has ever hired straight out of school.

'He was a good young man who did a good job,' Locust Grove Mayor Robert Price said.

'His wife is expecting their second child any day now, I'm told. We just need a lot of prayers for he and his wife and the baby that's coming into this world without a daddy because of somebody...' the mayor said, choking up. 'We got to pray for the two county officers that's wounded. One's not doing so hot and the other is better.'

Corley's brother spoke outside the hospital where he was taken to ask reporters and well wishers for prayers.

Both of the sheriff's deputies were wearing bullet proof vests at the time.

The bullet which struck Corley went through his vest and grazed his ribs but he was not seriously hurt.

Callaway was struck in the lower abdomen in an area which the vest was not protecting.

He required surgery immediately after arriving at the hospital.

The scene on the street where the shooting happened in Locust Grove, Georgia, on Friday morning. Police closed off the entire residential street to investigate

Maddox had worked for the police department for four years and was hired straight out of school

Corley's brother Wade asked for prayers for the officers' families and said he felt lucky his brother was not more seriously hurt.

'Thank God for the bulletproof vest.

'The bullet went through the vest and caught him near the right side of his ribs,' he told WFAA.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Nelly Miles said Friday night that Corley was released from the hospital hours after Friday's shooting. Miles said Callaway was listed in stable condition at a hospital.

The home where it happened is nestled inside a suburban subdivision known as Hawthorn at Linden Park.

There are many families on the street and the streets surrounding it.

At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Henry County Sheriff Keith McBrayer said: 'You never know when you go to take somebody into custody what kind of response you are going to get.

'From our information, it was obvious that the individual was not going to go.