A SWAT standoff in Hall County led to law enforcement officers shooting a man they say was threatening to light himself and a hostage on fire Saturday morning.
Hall County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call just after midnight regarding a wellness check for a domestic situation at a residence on Lakeview Lane off Browns Bridge Road, authorities said.
When they arrived, deputies said they found 34-year-old Randy Berry armed and holding a woman hostage inside a shed. Deputies’ original report indicated the man had an ax, but the GBI indicated it was a hatchet.
Negotiators said the suspect had a torch and had poured gasoline on himself and the shed and was threatening to light it all on fire, including the woman, according to the GBI, which is investigating the incident. He had also nailed the front door shut, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Negotiations between Berry and Hall County authorities were failing, the release states, resulting in SWAT members being called to the scene.
Berry stopped responding to authorities around 4 a.m., nearly four hours after the sheriff’s office was notified of the incident, according to the release.
At that point, Berry was shot in the arm by police, and SWAT members forcibly entered the house to save the woman and render aid to Berry. Officials said the woman was not injured but taken to the hospital.
After Berry was treated for his injury, he was charged with felony terrorist threats and false imprisonment as well as misdemeanor charges of obstruction and reckless conduct, the release said.
The GBI is conducting an independent investigation at the request of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
The state agency has been asked to investigate 68 officer-involved shootings so far this year. The AJC 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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