3 dead, 2 officers wounded in Georgia standoff
A standoff that began when two Georgia police officers were shot and wounded has ended with a 16-year-old boy and his pregnant mother both killed by a gunman who then killed himself, authorities said.
The two officers were responding to a domestic disturbance Thursday morning when they came under fire by the gunman, who then barricaded himself inside the house. A standoff ensued for the next 15 hours as police pleaded with the gunman to release the teenage boy from the home in Stockbridge, south of Atlanta.
Dramatic video from police body cameras shows a chaotic scene, as officers are ambushed almost immediately after they break down the door of the home. The video shows one of the officers being wounded and dragging his rifle across the front lawn to safety.
Police were initially hopeful, saying a negotiator was speaking with the gunman, identified by police on Friday as Anthony Tony Bailey Jr., 47, of Atlanta.
"With communication with the individual, at least he's talking — that's helpful," Henry County police Capt. Joey Smith had said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. "We're going to wait as long as we can."
However, by late Thursday night, the gunman was refusing to surrender and would not "provide proof of the well-being" of the teenager and the woman inside. So commanders made the decision to deploy gas inside the home, police said.
"The suspect fired numerous rounds at SWAT officers and vehicles," police said in an update on social media late Thursday.
Finally, in the pre-dawn hours Friday, police forced their way into the home and found three bodies.
Smith identified the victims as 16-year-old Arkeyvion White and his mother, Sandra White, more than eight months pregnant. Arkeyvion and Bailey were found dead in an upstairs bedroom; and Sandra White was found in the garage, Smith said.
Sandra White was a nurse at WellStar Health System who had been working to get more training through Georgia Southern University, her sister, Anetria White, told reporters. She said Arkeyvion played football at nearby Dutchtown High School.
"I don't know what to say. If you come over to your sister's house and you see her dead in the garage and then you wait from 11 o'clock in the morning until now you find out all three of them are gone," White told CBS affiliate WGCL.