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| A police officer leaves the scene after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostage suffered serious injuries. |
SUWANEE, Ga.
(AP) -- An armed man who was having financial problems held four
firefighters for hours in a suburban Atlanta home, demanding his cable
and power be turned back on, before being shot dead when SWAT members
stormed the house, authorities said Wednesday. The hostages had cuts and
bruises from explosions that officers set off to distract the gunman
before moving in, but they will be fine, a fire official said.
Minutes
before the police announcement on the resolution, a huge blast could be
heard a quarter-mile away from the home, shuddering through the Suwanee
neighborhood, setting off car alarms.
Earlier
Wednesday, five firefighters responded to what seemed like a routine
medical call and were eventually taken hostage by an unidentified
suspect inside the house, police said. The gunman released one of the
firefighters to move a fire truck but held the other four.
Dozens
of police and rescue vehicles surrounded the home and a negotiator was
keeping in touch with the gunman, police said. The situation remained
tense until the blast rocked the neighborhood of mostly two-story homes
and well-kept lawns. Residents unable to get into their neighborhood
because of the police cordon flinched and recoiled as the enormous blast
went off.
Soon after the stun blast, officers
exchanged gunfire with the suspect and a SWAT member was shot in the
hand or arm, but should be fine, said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin
Ritter. Ritter would not saw how the gunman was fatally shot, saying it
was being investigated.
"The explosion you
heard was used to distract the suspect, to get into the house and take
care of business," Ritter said in a news conference minutes after the
resolution. He said the situation had gotten to the point
where
authorities believed the lives of the hostages were in "immediate
danger."
The gunman, who has not been
identified, demanded several utilities be restored, Ritter said.
According to public records, the home is in foreclosure and has been
bank-owned since mid-November.
"It's an
unfortunate circumstance we did not want to end this way," Ritter said.
"But with the decisions this guy was making, this was his demise."
Firefighters
were able to use their radios to let the dispatch center know what was
going on, said Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said, and Ritter said officials
decided to "get control of the situation" and do it swiftly.
The
incident occurred about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, in the
Interstate 85 corridor, and Rutledge said the initial medical call
seemed routine and firefighters did not believe there was any danger.
One engine and one ambulance responded. Ritter said authorities didn't
yet know if the suspect may have faked a heart attack or some other
problem to bring the firefighters to his home.
"Our firefighters responded to a call they respond to hundreds of times, and that's a medical emergency," Rutledge said.
Two ambulances could be seen leaving after the gunfire ended.
Asked
what kind of weapon or weapons the suspect had, Ritter said he didn't
immediately know. He said investigators were in the house where the
suspect's body remained.
A spokeswoman for
Gwinnett Medical Center said Wednesday night that five firefighters and a
police officer were treated at the hospital and all were in good
condition. A couple firefighters had already been released, and it was
expected that all of the firefighters would be going home Wednesday
night.
"In talking to the firefighters and
their families just now, they're relieved," the fire department's
Rutledge said Wednesday evening at the same briefing, according to video
posted by WSB-TV. "They're simply relieved that the situation is over,
that their family members are with them and that they're safe."
This was the second time in recent months that firefighters have been targeted.
On
Dec. 24, a man in upstate New York set his house ablaze and shot and
killed two firefighters as they arrived, then himself. Two other
firefighters and a police officer were wounded.
