A woman and her son were found dead inside a Cobb County home when a five-hour SWAT standoff ended Wednesday morning, police said.
Authorities believe the two died as a result of a murder-suicide, Cobb police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said.
Investigators said police were called to the home in the 5900 block of Brinkley Road to respond to a domestic situation around 8 p.m. Tuesday. While en route, officers confirmed shots had been fired by one of the involved family members.
Police said 50-year-old Jeffrey Lawrence Bishop had been in an argument with three of his family members that turned physical. At some point, he grabbed a gun and began shooting, authorities said Thursday. Two of the family members escaped the home and called 911 from a neighbor’s house, but Lillian Bishop, identified Thursday as Jeffrey Bishop’s mother, was shot and killed, according to police.
Jeffrey Bishop barricaded himself inside and refused to come out, authorities said. The SWAT team was called in because police weren’t sure if his mother had escaped or if she was being held hostage, prompting the hourslong standoff.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
“Negotiators worked for an extended time to attempt to get Jeffrey to surrender peacefully,” Cobb police said in a statement, adding the man eventually stopped responding to their calls.
SWAT members later entered the home and “discovered that Lillian had been shot much earlier and was already deceased,” Delk said. Her son was found in another part of the home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information about the case is asked to call Cobb police at 770-499-3945.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
