East Point police officer arrested after 5-hour SWAT standoff

Robert Gray

Robert Gray

An East Point police officer was arrested in Newnan on Sunday after five hours of negotiations with SWAT officers.

Robert Gray, 49, is being held in the Coweta County Jail on a charge of first-degree burglary following the standoff at a home on Hunterian Place. According to East Point police, he has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation by that agency.

“The alleged incident took place while Officer Gray was off duty,” police spokeswoman Renita Shelton said in a statement.

Newnan police were called to the 400 block of Hunterian Place to investigate a burglary in progress just before midnight Saturday. They spotted a man, later identified as Gray, inside the house and set up a perimeter.

Lt. Robert Gray was placed on administrative leave.

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Gray refused to speak to officers on scene, and SWAT negotiators were called in, according to Newnan police. He eventually surrendered peacefully after five hours. No one was injured and police said no force was necessary.

Newnan police are not releasing any details about the home’s resident because that person’s relationship with Gray is “domestic in nature.”

Gray could face more charges pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, a spokeswoman for the Newnan agency said.

Gray first joined the East Point Police Department in October 1993 and resigned in May 2007 at the rank of sergeant, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. He did a stint as a detective for Sandy Springs police before returning to East Point in 2012. He was promoted to lieutenant in April of last year.

— AJC data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.

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