In a heart-wrenching incident, the fiancée of a Georgia man, William “Bam” Tatum, expressed her grief over losing her “best friend” to a brutal crime. Tatum, aged 40, was tragically shot by two masked assailants while returning home after picking up takeout for his family on October 10.

According to local ABC affiliate WTVM, Tatum was confronted by two unknown men as he approached his home. His fiancée, who chose to remain anonymous, recounted the harrowing moment when one of the intruders threatened, “If you don’t open the door, we will kill him,” from just outside her doorstep.

Despite the threats, the assailants ended up fatally shooting Tatum and left without taking anything, leaving his fiancée and their children traumatized witnesses to the senseless violence.

The fiancée shared with WTVM her deliberate decision to avert her gaze during the incident, a desperate attempt to shield herself and her children from potential harm by being unable to identify the attackers.

Tatum was a self-employed father to four children, with his youngest being the two he shared with his fiancée. On that fateful night of October 10, Tatum, having returned from work, was looking forward to a family movie night when he was tragically confronted at gunpoint right at his own doorstep.

From behind the door, Tatum’s fiancee said that she heard Tatum trying to protect her and the children, even telling the suspects to kill him and telling her not to open the door despite the threats. Ultimately, she decided to open the door, explaining to WTVM, “If they would have killed him outside, and I wouldn’t have opened the door, that would have haunted me forever because I’m like, ‘I should’ve opened the door, and he told me “no.”‘ I heard him say, ‘Kill me.’ He was trying to protect us.”

She told WTVM, that from behind the door, she told Tatum that she was there for him, and thought “he’s probably so mad at me” for agreeing to open the door.

The two men “left with nothing,” Tatum’s fiancee said, adding, “You just took an innocent life for no reason, away in front of his kids, and took my best friend away.”

The Columbus Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting and asking the public for information that may lead to an arrest.