SWAT Standoff: Gwinnett Firefighters Held Hostage - Updates

UPDATE, 8 p.m.: A SWAT team moved into the house about 7:30 p.m. The suspect is dead; the four firefighters suffered superficial wounds from the distraction device, and a police officer was shot but suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police told the media.

UPDATE, 7:35 p.m: Police have just told people to clear the Road on Walnut Grove Way. A loud bang was heard in the neighborhood. WSB reports that it might have been a flash-bang device, sometimes used to distract hostage-takers to allow for police activity. An ambulance just left the neighborhood with its siren going.

Original post: One of five Gwinnett County firefighters has been released from a hostage situation at 2440 Walnut Grove Way in unincorporated Suwanee, according to fire officials. Four remain inside the home with a gunman.

Firefighters were apparently called to the home about 3:44 p.m. on what WSB-TV reports was a faked medical call. Firefighters are cross-trained as paramedics, fire spokesman Tommy Rutledge said in a news briefing just after 5:30 p.m.

There was "“no indication that there would be anything wrong once they arrived at the home,” Rutledge said.

Nearby homes have been evacuated and no one is being allowed in the neighborhood, WSB reports.

The single-family, 1,900-square-foot home, is in the Walnut Grove at Richland subdivision in unincorporated Suwanne near Collins Hill High School. 

Officials are not releasing any information about events inside the home. Rutledge said on WSB that there's no indication anyone has been harmed.

Patch will update when new information is available.