A 24-year-old man accused in a violent armed robbery eluded DeKalb County police late Tuesday after running inside a relative’s apartment. When a SWAT team entered the apartment, William McLeod was gone, according to Maj. S.R. Fore.

McLeod is accused of robbing a man at gunpoint in September, holding him to the ground and kicking him in the head, Fore said. McLeod is also accused of making threats against police officers on Facebook.

“In this day and time, we take that very seriously,” Fore told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Late Tuesday, McLeod was spotted in the Avondale Forest apartment complex off Mountain Drive, according to police. When he went into an apartment with four children inside, uniformed officers went into the apartment to remove the children, Fore said.

The SWAT team arrived and attempted to make contact with McLeod, police said. After securing a search warrant, SWAT officers fired tear gas into the apartment and entered it, but the suspect was not inside, McLeod.

Pictures of the apartment showed broken glass and holes in walls, and resident Terri Miller told Channel 2 Action News her home was destroyed.

McLeod, who should be considered armed and dangerous, remained on the loose Wednesday afternoon. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.

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