[ad_1]
A stand-off that lasted several hours with a man who fired at two Henry County police officers, then barricaded himself into a house, ended Friday morning after the gunman killed two people and then returned the weapon against him, announced the police.
A SWAT team went to Eagle Court in Stockbridge around 3 am without hearing anything from the gunman, according to Henry County Police Captain Joey Smith.
There, they found three bodies, ending a tense standoff that began Thursday morning and lasted until the early hours of the day, Friday.
The victims were a woman, her 16-year-old son and the shooter, Smith said. He said the woman was pregnant about 36 weeks old.
"Our gunman, it seems, died as a result of a self-inflicted bullet wound," Smith said. "This has been confirmed by the SWAT (Georgia State Patrol) entry team."
The police did not disclose the names of the victims.
RELATED: Suspect fired on two officers from Henry County refuses to surrender, police say
<! –
->
Officers responded to the house along Eagle Court, not far from I-75, in the Eagle Ridge neighborhood, at approximately 10:45 am, in response to a report of "Unknown Disorders", Smith said Thursday afternoon. Investigators believe that a family member of someone inside the house called 911 to report a type of violence.
The police arrived at the scene and broke into the house after being shot, Smith said. The officers did not retaliate.
AJC ON THE SCENE: Photos from the Henry County Shooting
One officer was hit in the hand and the other in the torso and hip, according to Smith. The officer who hit the hand could help his colleague get out of the house.
The two officers, both 30, have been with the police for several years. Both were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in serious condition, according to Smith. Their conditions are not considered life threatening. Their names have not been revealed.
A SWAT team from the Georgia State Patrol was activated after both officers were shot down, the shooter remaining barricaded inside the house. The negotiators knew that the shooter had the teenager and the woman inside, Smith said.
The suspect refused to assure the police that the two people inside the house were not injured, and the police then decided to fire tear gas on the house around 9 pm.
"We felt (the suspect) was dishonest," Smith said. "We had no contact with the 16-year-old girl, nor any idea that the woman was fine."
The neighbors who were trapped in their homes described the loud bang and shots they heard at that time.
"It was like a bomb had exploded at first, but now it's just a shot – a lot of shots," Dwight Taylor told Channel 2 Action News on the phone.
Smith said the officers had deployed gas canisters "that sounds like shots."
The attempt to enter the house was interrupted when the suspect fired several times at SWAT agents, he confirmed at 11 pm. Nobody was injured and the police did not fire or contact the suspect until the SWAT team did not enter the house early Friday.
Russell Blanding, a resident of the Eagle Ridge Subdivision, was stuck at his home while the stalemate was playing out. He was preparing to go to work on Thursday when the security forces arrived and cordoned off the area.
Blanding said he did not know the residents of the house and that they had only lived there for six months.
Smith said that it will take some time before the authorities can return to the house to investigate further.
"Right now, we're just trying to secure the scene," Smith said. "There is a lot of damage at home. Some chemical agents have been used to enter and we can not evaluate the house.
Thursday's shooting took place just days after a police officer from the City of Union City was shot several times on Monday night after going to a house on Stonewall Drive. Constable Jerome Turner Jr. is stable and is recovering from Grady after undergoing surgery, the police said. Another Union City officer was seen carrying "Get Well" balloons at the hospital on Thursday afternoon.
RELATED: GBI identifies a policeman injured during a shootout in Union City
It was the second time in four months that an officer from Henry County was shot in the performance of his duties. On December 6, officer Michael Smith was shot while trying to restrain a man in front of a dental office. Smith, 33, died of his injuries on December 28.
Six Georgian officers died in the line of duty in 2018, including four in the Atlanta subway. Smith was Henry's second officer to die in 2018. In February, Detective Chaust Maddox of Locust Grove was shot dead while assisting deputy ministers serving a warrant.
FOLLOW: Officer Henry is the 6th of Georgia killed in service this year
ALSO: An officer from Henry County remembered by the hundreds: "He saved lives that day."
So far this year, a Georgian officer has been killed in the performance of his duties. On January 29, Glascock County MP Joshua Ryer Jr. was killed in a car accident involving two vehicles while he was about to recover an inmate. The 19-year-old had been working in the department for five months.
Support true journalism Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today.
See offers.
Your subscription to Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and surveys that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.
[ad_2]
Source link