ATLANTA — The suspect in the high-rise standoff Tuesday at the Four Seasons in Atlanta was shot during the incident by a SWAT sniper, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Wednesday morning.
The GBI put out its first release on the incident, which also offered some new details into how the incident began.
The suspect, identified as a 70-year-old doctor, Jay Stevens Berger, could be seen bloodied in the face as he was loaded into an ambulance after being taken into custody on Tuesday. The GBI's release Wednesday confirms injuries from sniper fire.
There has not yet been an update on Berger's condition. He was initially taken to the hospital in stable condition.
An Atlanta Police Department SWAT officer was also injured during the incident, which the GBI's release says was possibly the result of shrapnel as Berger allegedly fired from his 33rd floor room out into the hallway. The officer, who has not been identified, was in stable condition Tuesday.
The Wednesday GBI release also offers some details on how the incident began.
It said the first call came in at 10:12 a.m., with APD officers responding to the Four Seasons after the residential manager "was contacted by a resident who advised a subject had thrown items into the hallway on the 33rd floor."
When the manager went to the 33rd floor, he encountered Berger "who pointed a firearm at him." That manager then called police and returned to the ground level of the building.
Officers arrived and found Berger barricaded in the room, at which point SWAT was brought in.
The GBI release continues:
The subject began firing a weapon inside his apartment and into the hallway. As rounds were fired through the walls at SWAT officers, one officer returned fire. One SWAT officer was injured during the incident (possibly by shrapnel). The subject then proceeded onto the balcony of his apartment and began throwing items off the balcony. At some point during the encounter, a SWAT sniper fired at the subject and struck him. SWAT entered the subject’s apartment and took the subject into custody without further incident.
Witnesses inside the hotel and neighboring buildings heard rounds discharged through walls, the door, and at least once from the balcony. According to on-scene 11Alive reporters, Berger could be seen hurling furniture over his balcony, wearing a gas mask, and waving American flags.
A timeline previously laid out by APD indicated Berger was taken into custody a little after 4 p.m.
11Alive reported Tuesday that SWAT sniper units could be seen positioned around the building.