An 80-year-old former police officer was arrested after a SWAT standoff in Union County early Sunday, accused of shooting and killing his daughter and wounding a great-grandson.
The shootings happened shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday at a home on Miller Cove Road south of Blairsville.
Union County Sheriff Mack Mason told Channel 2 Action News that the county’s 911 center received a distress call from a woman at that location. Shots were heard in the background and the phone went dead.
When deputies arrived at the home, they discovered Frank Raymond Miller, 80, heavily armed inside the house and Miller’s 19-year-old great-grandson outside with a gunshot wound to the leg.
Mason said Miller refused to come out, and the Fannin County Sheriff’s SWAT team was called in to assist.
After about a three-hour standoff, SWAT team members and deputies entered the house around 6 a.m, Tased Miller and took him into custody.
The body of Miller’s 59-year-old daughter, Collen Grant, was found inside the home. Mason said Grant, who had placed the initial 911 call, had been shot multiple times.
Charges were pending Sunday against Miller, who Mason said is a retired Florida police officer.
Girl, 4, drowns in Clarkston pool
A four-year-old girl drowned Saturday after falling into a run-down pool at a DeKalb County apartment complex.
Channel 2 Action News reported the girl was playing with a friend at the Southern Place complex in Clarkston when she fell into the pool, which was only partially filled with water.
The girl’s name has not been released.
Bartow teen killed in Friday wreck
A Cartersville teen was killed Friday night in a single-vehicle crash in Bartow County.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, 18-year-old Hilary Mariah Hobbs was driving a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle southbound on Hall Station Road about 6:30 p.m. Friday when the car ran off the road and struck a tree.
Hobbs, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.
Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the wreck, according to the State Patrol.
Child critical after being hit by car in southwest Atlanta
A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured Saturday night when he was hit by a car while playing in a southwest Atlanta street.
The accident happened near the intersection of Centra Villa and Venetian drives.
Alford Askew, the husband of the woman who struck the child, told Channel 2 Action News that his wife didn’t see the boy until it was too late.
“She swerved to try to miss the kid,” Askew said.
The boy, whose name has not been released, was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where he was in critical condition Sunday morning.
Atlanta police told Channel 2 that driver would not likely face charges.
Neighbors complained to Channel 2 that there are no sidewalks or street lights in the area.
Dexter Chambers, a spokesman for the Atlanta City Council, released a statement Sunday addressing those concerns:
“We are sensitive to fact that more sidewalks are needed throughout the city of Atlanta. A sidewalk commission has been established to look at all areas where pedestrian safety should be top priority. With our last bond referendum we focused on installing sidewalks along our school zones. Now our focus is on installing sidewalks throughout all neighborhoods in our city. The Department of Public Works has been informed of the residents’ desire for sidewalks along Venetian Drive and we will make it a top priority.”
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