Police said a SWAT standoff ended at a DeKalb County motel about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Police said a suspect had held 11 children hostage at Rite4Us Inn and Suites on Snapfinger Woods Drive.
The youngest child was 3 months old and the oldest was 17 years old, according to police.
Police said 36-year-old Korrie Thomas held the children and a woman hostage beginning at 2 a.m. Tuesday. It began as a domestic dispute.
They said when they went inside the room, Thomas stabbed himself in the neck.
He was taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition, police told Channel 2’s Darryn Moore.
The kids and woman are safe, according to police.
Officer D. Morgan has been a negotiator with the DeKalb County Police Department for seven years.
His job is to convince suspects in standoffs to surrender.
"I basically offer them a lot of peaceful options, you know -- that's our main goal, to bring everything to a peaceful resolve," Morgan said.
But sometimes, negotiating only goes so far.
Investigators say Thomas was armed with a knife, and when the SWAT team forced its way into the room five hours after the call, the dad cut his throat.
Thomas' neighbor says he never meant to put his kids in harm's way.
"He's a great daddy, he brings his kids to the bus stop, he's one of the best fathers I've seen in years," the neighbor said.
Thomas is facing false imprisonment and obstruction charges.
