ATLANTA — Two young girls were rescued and a 40-year-old man was taken into custody after a six-hour-long standoff in Clayton County.
Clayton County SWAT was called to a home along Pineglen Drive in the Forest Park area around 3 p.m. Monday.
11Alive Skytracker flew over the home as nearly a dozen officers and an armored vehicle investigated a house in a neighborhood off Riverdale Road. The location is near West Clayton Elementary School. Clayton County authorities were blocking off streets leading into the neighborhood.
Cpt. Gary Flinn with Clayton County Police said they were investigating a domestic disturbance call. When police arrived at the home on the 1000-block of Pineglen Drive, they found a woman at the home with the front door open. She told police there was a man inside the kitchen, trying to get a gun, according to Flinn, adding the two were in a relationship and lived at the home.
As officers worked to get the woman to safety, they learned there may have been three children inside. When trying to speak with the man, police said he barricaded himself and refused to respond.
Authorities activated the SWAT team, bomb squad, and had a drone to search for the children and pinpoint where the man was.
After several hours, law enforcement was able to get two girls out of the home safely and believed a boy was left inside. Police eventually learned the boy had left before authorities even arrived - that's when SWAT entered the home, according to Flinn.
The SWAT team found the man's location.
"He fell out of the attic," Flinn said, adding that he landed in the garage. The man was taken into custody in the home. He could not clarify if any weapons were found in the home.
"Everybody is out of the house safe," Flinn said.
Authorities said the man faces false imprisonment, simple battery and cruelty to children charges.
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