Vanessa Soyer was killed Monday morning, shot multiple times inside her family’s Lawrenceville apartment while her young son fled to safety. Her husband — the alleged gunman — also fled, triggering a lockdown at nearby Georgia Gwinnett College.
Less than 24 hours later, Lawrenceville police swarmed outside a local gas station, acting on a tip that Sheldon Soyer was inside.
He was — and he surrendered peacefully.
“This was exactly what we were hoping for,” Lawrenceville police Capt. Jeff Smith said Tuesday morning. “It was a blessing. Nobody got hurt and now we’re able to let the justice system take its course.”
Soyer, 43, was booked into the Gwinnett County jail shortly before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, a few hours after his apprehension at the Shell station on the corner of Old Norcross Road and Sugarloaf Parkway. He has been charged with aggravated assault and felony murder and is being held without bond.
Police declined to provide specific information on what led to his wife’s death at the Hillcrest Green apartment complex, saying only that the shooting “stemmed from a domestic dispute.”
The couple’s son — believed to be in his early teens — escaped unharmed.
Warrants were issued for Soyer shortly after police discovered his wife’s body Monday morning but, because he was not yet in custody, officials at Georgia Gwinnett College — located just across Ga. 316 from the apartment complex — decided to put the campus on lockdown. All of the college’s buildings were searched and cleared by about 2:45 p.m., but the campus was closed for the remainder of the day and students living on campus were urged to remain in their dorms throughout the night.
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