AUSTELL, Ga. -- The wife of the man shot and killed by a Douglas County deputy Monday is talking about her husband, Leonard Anderson, for the first time.

“I’m just really heartbroken because I don't believe I won't see him again, that my kids won't see him again,” said April Anderson.

The 32-year-old was married to April, and was a father to their kids.

“He went above and beyond what I could have imagined. He was my high school sweetheart. We have four kids together. He did whatever he could for us, very loving, very supportive,” said Anderson.

Police paint a different picture. Douglas County deputies responded to a 911 call about a suspicious person at Maxham Plaza in Austell Monday afternoon. Police say when they attempted to stop Anderson, he tried to hit a deputy with his car. Another deputy felt threatened and shot at the car four times, killing Anderson.

“For what I've heard, it's still excessive for what happened. He didn't have to die for this, so I really would like to know why?” said Anderson.

Anderson says her husband wasn't working. He was laid off a few weeks ago. Police said was recently arrested on a charge of shoplifting, and they said they found stolen items from a burglary in his car.

“It's very out of character for him in my opinion, so I don't know what that would have been,” said Anderson.

Anderson found out about the shooting Monday after a friend saw news coverage and noticed the car looked familiar. Anderson contacted police because she hadn't heard from her husband. She didn't find out until Tuesday the person shot and killed was her husband.

“He really did not deserve to lose his life that way, he really didn't,” said Anderson.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations, or GBI, is handling the case.