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Gunman killed after holding Georgia firemen hostage

Gunman killed after holding Georgia firemen hostage, Police stormed a suburban Atlanta home Wednesday evening and killed a gunman who had held four firefighters hostage since midafternoon.

One police officer was slightly wounded in the exchange of gunfire about 7:30 p.m. when a SWAT team rushed into the home, which was in foreclosure and being prepared for sale.

The firefighters, who were seized while answering a 911 call for a medical emergency, suffered superficial injuries when officers detonated a flash-bang grenade as they entered, said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter.

The unidentified gunman was facing eviction and wanted the power and cable TV turned back on, Ritter said.

"The SWAT team commander believed their lives were in immediate danger and it was the time to go in there," Ritter said. "It's an unfortunate circumstance. We did not want this to end this way, but with the decisions this guy was making, this was his demise."

An explosion was heard about 7:35 p.m., followed by several gunshots. The wounded officer was shot in one of his hands.

The hostage drama began about 3:40 p.m. when five firefighters responded to "routine medical call," Ritter said, without elaborating. The gunman allowed one firefighter to leave so he could move the firetruck.

LIVE: WXIA-TV video from the scene

STORY: N.Y. firefighters describe their attack

At an afternoon news briefing, Ritter said that police "have a good idea why" the gunman seized the firefighters, but "I'm not going to go into any details about it."

A sheriff's deputy said the gunman was upset that the house was in foreclosure, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The house at 2440 Walnut Grove Way is a bank-owned repossession, public records show.

A FreddieMac spokesman told WSB-TV, Atlanta, that the property was being prepared for sale but was not yet on the market. Wells Fargo foreclosed in November and transferred the mortgage to the government lender.

The house was being rented when it was foreclosed, but the FreddieMac spokesman did not know whether the renter was still in the house.

SWAT officers had surrounded the house, and negotiators were communicating with the gunman, Ritter said.

Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said one engine and an ambulance responded to the initial 911 call from a nearby station in Suwanee, about 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.

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"They arrived at the scene. They went in and began to do what they do every day when they were taken hostage," he said.

The man called 911 to say he was having a heart attack, unidentified fire officials told WSB-TV.

The firefighters who responded are cross-trained as emergency medical technicians.

Police blocked off the neighborhood, preventing some residents from returning home. News helicopters were asked to stay clear of the airspace above the scene.

The subdivision is across the street from a high school, which is closed this week for spring break. A nearby elementary school is also on break.

It's rare for firefighters to be taken hostage, said Larry Barton, a management professor at the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and an instructor in threat assessment at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.

"I struggled when I heard the news to identify a single case in the past three decades in which firefighters have been held hostage," he said.

"I think one of the reasons why is that when you look at respect for the professions, respect for two professions are usually right at the top in public opinion polls," explained Barton, who has researched more than 2,800 incidents of violence in public spaces, schools and businesses. "The first is nursing, but firefighting typically is second or third. They are generally seen as neutral. Because they are the first-responders, very few people usually get upset with them."

On Christmas Eve near Rochester, N.Y., two volunteer fighters were slain and two others wounded when they were ambushed by an ex-convict who had set to his home on the shore of Lake Ontario.

STORY: 4 firefighters shot, 2 killed at Webster, N.Y., fire

The gunman, 62-year-old William Spengler, killed himself after the shooting spree, which kept firefighters at bay until police arrived. Seven homes were eventually destroyed.

Spengler served 17 years in a New York State prison for beating his grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980.

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