Man killed by SWAT team at Gwinnett home after roommate fight led to standoff
A dispute between roommates at a Loganville home escalated into a SWAT standoff Friday before the armed suspect aimed his weapon at officers and was shot and killed, police said.
Officers responded to a house on the corner of Templeton Lane and Templeton Drive for a domestic call around 1:20 a.m., Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle said. The man killed was later identified by the GBI as 63-year-old Leonard Hollingsworth.
The dispute led to the initial 911 call, investigators at the scene told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When officers arrived, they saw both the 911 caller and Hollingsworth in the home’s driveway. Hollingsworth, who was holding a gun, was preventing the roommate from leaving, Winderweedle said. Once police arrived, the roommate was able to leave the property and Hollingsworth retreated inside.
Police took out arrest warrants charging Hollingsworth with aggravated assault and criminal damage to property. They also determined that “an elderly female was still inside the residence” and might be in danger, Winderweedle said. About 40 minutes after the initial police response, supervisors on the scene requested a SWAT unit.
SWAT negotiators talked with Hollingsworth for more than five hours, police told the AJC. During that time, he pointed guns at the SWAT vehicle and threatened to shoot officers multiple times, Winderweedle said.
Around 7:15 a.m., Hollingsworth went to the back door of the house and pointed a gun at two SWAT officers. The officers opened fire, hitting and killing him.
No officers were injured during the hours-long incident. The GBI has opened an independent investigation into the fatal shooting.
The GBI confirmed the incident was the 69th officer-involved shooting the state agency has been asked to investigate this year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
About the Authors
Henri Hollis is a reporter and restaurant critic for the Food & Dining team. Formerly a freelance writer and photographer with a focus on food and restaurants, he joined the AJC full-time in January 2021, first covering breaking news. He is a lifelong Atlantan and a graduate of Georgia Tech.
