A SWAT situation that forced guests to evacuate a southeast Atlanta motel ended Thursday morning when officers took a man into custody.
Eric Shaw of Arkansas was arrested on charges of criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct following an investigation. An Atlanta police spokesman said that after searching the man’s motel room, no weapons were found.
Police had secured the area around the Atlanta Motel since just before 3:30 a.m., when a 911 caller reported gunshots and someone screaming in the 200 block of Moreland Avenue.
Responding officers saw shattered glass outside a first-floor room and began communicating with a man barricaded inside, Atlanta police Lt. Daniel Denson told AJC.com.
“At that point, the guest started making threats toward the officers, so the officers backed up and we contacted SWAT, just because we weren’t sure if he could be armed or if he had inflicted any harm to anyone else.”
Shaw came out of the room on his own and was taken into custody about 6:15 a.m. He dropped a book bag on the way out, and SWAT officers put on bomb gear to examine it for explosives, firearms and contraband. Police did not provide an update about the book bag’s contents.
Denson said he believes the man was in the hotel room alone, and it’s possible he was the one heard screaming. A security guard at the hotel also called 911 to report the disturbance, but he described it as loud, quick “noises that could have been confused as shots fired,” Denson said.
The area around the motel was shut down as police investigated.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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