Police became convinced a man killed during a SWAT standoff in Suwanee Wednesday would not release five firefighters he held hostage, even if his demands were met, authorities said.
Lauren Brown, 55, gave authorities a 7:30 p.m. deadline to meet his demands, which included delivering food, wood and tools to his home, according to officials with the Gwinnett County police and fire departments during a press conference Thursday.
Officials said just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Brown faked a heart attack to draw the firefighters to his home at 2440 Walnut Grove Way, near Collins Hill and Taylor roads.
Officials said Brown planned the event for several weeks. They found six guns in his house. He targeted firefighters instead of police so he would not be immediately shot, officials said.
SWAT officers used flash-bang, or concussion grenades, to catch Brown off-guard as they entered the home.
The goal of the blast was to disorient and distract the gunman.
Brown shot one officer in the arm, then Brown was shot and killed, officials said. They said only one officer fired his weapon. Firefighters were never bound, but Brown had ordered them to gather rope and chairs to do so, officials said.
All of the firefighters have been released from Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville. Officials said the officer who was shot is in good condition. Police are not releasing names of the injured officer or the firefighters.
Brown lived alone in the house. He suffered from “some sort of debilating injury,” officials said. Police had been to the home several times over the past 10 years, not really for “anything criminal,” officials said.
Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tracy Lee said Wednesday that Brown was upset because his house was being foreclosed on. “I’ve been doing this for 24 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Lee said.
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