A gunman who took five people, including two children, hostage during a standoff with South Georgia police died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the results of an autopsy.
The procedure revealed that 38-year-old LeJune Cobb shot himself during the incident at the East Oak Street home in Cordele, the GBI said in a news release.
Cordele police were called to the home to investigate a disturbance about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, GBI special agent Bryan Smith said. When officers arrived, they encountered Cobb inside.
There was an exchange of gunfire, Smith said.
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"The officers were able to safely back out of the house," he said in a news release. "Three adults escaped, with Cobb and the children remaining in the residence."
The Crisp County Sheriff’s Office was called in to assist with hostage negotiations. After some time, the children were safely removed from the home, but Cobb remained inside, according to Smith.
“The negotiators had family and friends communicate with Cobb in further attempts to get Cobb to surrender,” he said in the release. “During the negotiations, at least one more exchange of gunfire was initiated by Cobb with officers.”
After several hours, officers with the Tri-County Special Response Team made their way inside the home and discovered Cobb wounded. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, officials said.
At the time, it was not clear how Cobb was shot. The GBI’s Crime Lab in Macon performed an autopsy Tuesday.
No officers were injured during the ordeal, which involved several local law enforcement agencies, the Georgia State Patrol and the GBI’s bomb disposal unit.
It was the 37th officer-involved shooting the GBI has investigated in 2020, agency spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don't involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI's tally.
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