Crime & Safety

Firefighters Rescued from Hostage Situation; Suspect Dead

A police officer was shot, but his injuries appear to be non life-threatening.

A SWAT Team moved into a home on Walnut Grove Way in nearby Suwanee about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, ending a standoff that began with five firefighters being held hostage, Gwinnett County Police said.

The suspect was found dead in the home. One police officer was shot, but his injuries were not expected to be life threatening. The four firefighters who remained in the home received superficial wounds from a "flash-bang" device used to distract the hostage-taker.

Police said the man had called emergency officials reporting a false medical situation. He began making demands that his power and other utilities be turned back on. WSB-TV reported that the home, at 2440 Walnut Grove Way, had been in foreclosure.

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Officials decided to move in on the home to save "the lives of those firefighters," Gwinnett County Police spokesman Cpl. Edwin Ritter said in a news briefing at about 7:40 p.m. "It got to a point where we believed their lives were in immediate danger."

Patch will update with details.

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See Also:

SWAT Standoff: Gwinnett Firefighters Held Hostage - Updates


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