Standoff Keeps Chestnut Hill Residents from Homes

A 23-year-old man who charged a Cobb County Police officer with a knife this afternoon and kept neighbors from their homes for close to six hours as law enforcement negotiated with him is in custody this evening.

Around 3 p.m., two officers responded to a dispute between the 23-year-old man and his parents at 667 Wolfs Bane Dr., which is located in the Chestnut Hill subdivision off Bells Ferry Road., said Sgt. Dana Pierce, the spokesman for the Cobb County Police Department.

When police arrived, the man charged one of the officers with a knife before returning inside the house.

Hostage negotiators as well as Cobb SWAT and bomb squad units were called to the scene. Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol helped redirect residents, who weren't allowed access to their homes until just before 9 p.m.

"We began to negotiate with him off and on throughout the evening," Pierce said. "We would establish communication with him, talk with him, then he would hang up. The same thing would happen over and over again throughout the evening."

By 8:46 p.m., when the 23-year-old man emerged from the house, close to 100 officials from Cobb and the GSP had responded to the scene, Pierce said.

Police have not released the identity of the man or what prompted the dispute with his parents. He is currently in custody at the Cobb County Police Department, but has not been charged with a crime as of yet.

"Because he did charge the officer," Pierce said, "he is going to be charged with that aggravated assault charge and they're going to look to see if there's any other charges against him that are outstanding." 

No one was injured during the negotiations.